New release: Waitress

Discover the lip lickingly delicious recipes featured in this summer's sweetest rom-com, Waitress (in cinemas from 10th August)


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An audience hit at the Sundance Film Festival, WAITRESS serves up a sweet, sassy and delicious slice of life tale -- as it reveals the power of friendship, motherhood and the willingness to take a chance. It's the story of a small town woman who transforms her hopeless life into a hilarious and unexpected love story. This vibrantly different romantic comedy is the final film from writer-director Adrienne Shelly. Starring in the title role, Keri Russell (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3, THE UPSIDE OF ANGER, Felicity) leads a dynamic cast as a diner waitress stuck in a lousy marriage whose only solace is baking out-of-this-world pies.

When the awkwardly charming new OB-GYN, Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion, SERENITY), comes to town, she's inspired to mix-master her life into something far more satisfying. WAITRESS will surely do for pie making what SIDEWAYS did for Pinot Noir.

Indeed, it was getting pregnant that inspired Shelly to dream up the indelible characters of WAITRESS, and to boldly create a predicament for her heroine, Jenna, she'd never seen anyone really tackle before in a comedy: being scared out of her mind at the very thought of giving birth.

"I wrote WAITRESS when I was about eight months pregnant, and I was really scared about the idea of having a baby," she explained. "I couldn't imagine how my life was going to be, that it would change so drastically that I wasn't even going to recognize myself anymore. I was terrified and I really had never seen that reflected in anything, not in a book or in a movie."

That's when Shelly decided to undo the taboo. "People don't talk about those kinds of fears," Shelly continued, "but I know how large they loom. They aren't spoken about, and it's almost like a sacrilege to say that becoming a mother is scary. So I wanted to write a movie about those fears and give them a voice. But I also knew that when you actually have a child this other kind of love kicks in that you couldn't have ever imagined. It's a different kind of love than you've ever experienced in your life - it's a complete, utter, unconditional kind of love. Being a mother does change your life, in a beautiful way."

Out in cinemas from Friday 10th August why not go see the film, take inspiration from Jenna's character and indulge in a spot of pie making yourself!
For more information visit www.waitressmovie.co.uk.

Here are some of the delicious recipes featured in the film so that you too can learn to bake away all of your troubles!

• FALLING IN LOVE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PIE

Ingredients: (serves 6)

1 x 20cm cooked sweet pastry case,1 (400g) can condensed milk,170ml water 150g caster sugar,40g cocoa,20g cornflour,30g plain chocolate, 570 ml double cream (stiffly whipped plus extra for decoration)

Preparation:

1. In large saucepan, combine the condensed milk, water, caster sugar, cocoa and cornflour, whisking until smooth.

2. Over a medium heat, add the chocolate and stir continuously until it melts and the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and beat until smooth. Leave to cool and refrigerate for 15 minutes before folding in the double cream.

3. Pour the mixture into prepared pastry case and chill for 4 hours or until set. Decorate with whipped cream and serve.

• I CAN'T HAVE NO AFFAIR BECAUSE IT'S WRONG PIE

Ingredients: (serves 8)

200g digestive biscuits (crushed), 125g demerara sugar, 125g butter (melted), 2 large eggs, 200g caster sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 500ml milk (scalded), 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 banana (optional), 3 egg whites

Preparation:

1. In a medium bowl, mix the digestive biscuits, brown sugar and melted butter together until well blended. Press the crumb mixture into a 23cm (6 cm deep) loose-based tin. Preheat the oven to 220°C/ gas mark 7.

2. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Mix in 75g of the caster sugar and the salt. Slowly stir in the hot, scalded milk and the vanilla extract. Strain the mixture into the pie crust and sprinkle the cinnamon on top.

3. Bake on the lower shelf of the pre-heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the custard is firm.

4. In a large glass mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually beat in the remaining caster sugar, whisking well between each addition until very stiff and shiny.

5. Scatter the banana over the custard (if using.) Spread the meringue on top of the pie, return to the oven and cook until the meringue is slightly brown. Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting.

• PREGNANT MISERABLE SELF-PITYING LOSER PIE

Ingredients: (serves 8)

1 packet (450g) shortcrust pastry, 200g blueberries, 190g caster sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon cornflour, 100ml water, 3 eggs (beaten), 170g demerara sugar, 280ml glucose syrup, 170ml double cream, 6 tablespoons butter (melted), 125g uncooked rolled oats, 100g finely chopped fruitcake, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 tbsp brandy

Preparation:

1. Line a 25cm loose-based tin with approximately two thirds of the shortcrust pastry. Reserve the trimmings. Chill the pastry case in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Heat the blueberries, 40g of the caster sugar and the lemon juice in a saucepan until the juices begin to run from the fruit. Mix the cornflour with the water, then stir a little of the hot juices from the pan into the cornflour mixture. Stir this mixture back into the pan and continue stirring until thickened. Set aside to cool.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/ Gas Mark 4.

4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, demerara sugar, remaining caster sugar, glucose syrup, cream, butter, oats, fruitcake and vanilla extract. Mix well and stir in the blueberry mixture. Pour into the prepared pastry case.

5. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into long strips about 2cm wide. Create a lattice on top of the blueberry filling, by laying out the strips of pastry at 2 cm intervals across the pie, turning the pie 90 degrees and adding a second row of pastry strips to form a criss-cross pattern.

6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes or until browned and set.

7. Pour the brandy onto the hot pie and set fire to it carefully with a match. Allow the alcohol to burn off and serve.