Suppose you grew up, luckily, with a grandmother who knew pies. Suppose, as an adult, you owned three Seattle coffee shops in 2008 and noticed the economy going south. Suppose you had the vision, if not the audacity, to see salvation through pie.

I rather like that term: salvation through pie. Maybe a new society, a church, … I digress.

Dani Cone is the person whose story is boldly and brightly described in Cutie Pies. You see, she had the idea of not just doing “pie” but doing it differently. Very differently.

So in Cutie Pies you will find both sweet and savory, and sizes small to smaller.

Her first cutie pies were baked in standard muffin pans. The muffin pan “dips” are each lined with a superior crust — and Cutie Pies supplies multiple recipes — and then filled:

• Pear Cranberry Ginger
• Black Raspberry
• Cranberry Nut
• Three Cheese and Onion
• Garlic Potato and Chive
• And more

Her petit pies are smaller yet, baked in mini muffin tins, for one gigantic oozing mouthful of flavor:

• Key Lime
• Banana Blueberry
• Berry Black Bottom
• Pear, Gruyere and Prosciutto
• Salmon, Cream Cheese and Dill

But it is the pie jars that are the best idea in the book: bake in a mason jar lined with crust [see the pictures above and below]:

• Spiced Plum
• Raspberry Mint Chocolate
• Apple Cherry Rosemary
• Peach Ricotta Honey

There are other chapters in Cutie Pies: empanada-like flipovers and pie pops on a stick. And while it’s not exactly needed by the time you get to the end, there is a chapter on full size pies. Actually, when you see the Chocolate Cream Pie you’ll be very glad it was included.

The book has 40 recipes, but these are all really templates. Once you “get the idea” you are certain to experiment and enjoy on your own. New combinations, new fruits, new savory touches are all welcome. You cannot fail here.

Suzen has her Cooking by the Book cooking school in New York City. At least once a week now, clients ask for pie jars. They make the pie jars themselves, they watch them bake, they consume with relish.

So will you. Find a copy of Cutie Pies for yourself. If you like to bake, you will plunge in with energy. If you are not a baker, prepare for a life changing experience.

See, I told you: salvation through pie. I’m going to trademark it.