“Thinner” Cursed Strawberry Pie with Blood Orange (Low Sugar Recipe)

Start the New Year off by baking up a “Thinner” Cursed Strawberry Pie!

This recipe uses less sugar than a typical strawberry pie, and uses blood orange flesh, juice, and zest for an unexpected surprise in every bite. Unlike the pie in the novel and film, you’ll definitely want to share this pie with someone you love–not someone you want to kill.

When I think back to the mid-90’s, a film that I was quite fond of was Thinner, the film adaptation of the Richard Bachman novel, later revealed to be Stephen King. The film was directed by Tom Holland, who you likely recognize from films such as Child’s Play or Fright Night.

I recently revisited this film with my family, and introduced my younger brother to it for the first time, and had so much fun rewatching it, I knew I had to take a stab at making the cursed pie from the film, and with it being the new year, and a time when many make resolutions to eat a bit healthier, I decided to embracer the Thinner theme, and make this a reduced sugar pie. And the idea of my Thinner Cursed Strawberry Pie with Blood Orange was born. Feel free to substitute the sugar substitute with a full-serving of granulated sugar if your heart and pancreas desires.

The pie in the film is a strawberry pie, topped off with a secret ingredient—Billy’s cursed blood. To fully embrace the theme of the film, I decided to add some blood oranges to my strawberry pie. The blood orange juice, rind, and flesh add extra flavor and essence to an already flavorful pie. They just add an unexpected, yet pleasant surprise to every bite, and the addition of the extra acidity ensures you don’t miss the omitted sugar. This pie will definitely be a welcome addition to my springtime baking rotation, even if I have to substitute a different variety of citrus if blood oranges are no longer in season.

ABOUT THE BOOK/FILM – Spoiler Alert

Billy Halleck is an overweight, upper class lawyer living in the fictional suburb of Fairview, Maine. After having dinner with a mobster named Richie ‘The Hammer” Ginelli that Billy successfully defends, Billy finds himself…rather distracted…by his wife’s advances while driving home, and ends up accidentally running over an elderly gypsy woman from a traveling carnival. Long story short, Billy is able to work his magic and use his connections with his friends—a judge, and a police chief—to avoid any charges, and force the gypsy carnival out of town.

After Billy is declared not-guilty, a 106 year-old man named Tadzu Lempke approaches Billy, brushes his cheek, and utters the word, “Thinner.” While Billy is shaken by this encounter, he doesn’t think much of it.

The following week, Billy has dropped 25 pounds. He is amazed, but his wife Heidi attributes it to guilt. As time goes on, Billy continues to drop more weight and rapidly withers away. Has Billy found a newfound cure for his obesity, or has a gypsy curse been put on him?

I highly recommend you read the book and/or watch the film, but needless to say, in order for Billy to lift the curse, he must “give” the curse to a pie, which he then must give to a recipient, who then must consume the pie. Which, in this case, is his wife’s favorite—strawberry.

If you enjoyed this recipe for my Cursed Strawberry Pie from Thinner, please be sure to leave me a comment below! Sharing is scaring…er…caring, so I’d appreciate it if you’d share it with your friends on social media! Be sure to tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter if you do!

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