Baker's stunning pie crust designs are a big hit online with their intricate artwork

On February 13, Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin, a Reddit user known as u/ThePieous, posted her latest work of art: a stunning strawberry pie inspired by an episode of HBO's hit show "The Last of Us." Clark-Bojin's post, referencing a line from the third episode titled "Long Long Time," went viral on multiple social media platforms, including Reddit, TikTok and Instagram. Her extraordinary creation received loving comments from award-winning actors Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman.

Clark-Bojin is an expert pie maker, the author of "Pies Are Awesome: The Definitive Pie Art Book" and a former filmmaker. She discovered her talent for pie-baking when she made a New Year's resolution not to eat any sugar for a year. Desperate for a dessert she could actually eat, she bought ingredients for pie crust and created her first-ever pie, with a carved-out fire-breathing dragon crust.

When she posted her work online, her family was stunned - she had never baked anything before and was usually just asked to bring buns to parties. But after that first pie, she was hooked and surprised to find that there were no more people like her. Clark-Bojin has since made breathtakingly beautiful pies, inspiring joy and wonder in all of us who gaze upon them.

In 2016, when baker and artist Meaghan Clark-Bojin realized that pie art wasn't something people did, she was bewildered. After all, there are so many other types of art-infused desserts like cake art, cookie art, waffle art and pancake art. She decided to create her own pie art and quickly discovered that it was easier than it looked.

Clark-Bojin's pies are all 100% edible and she often proves it by slicing them into her creations and taking a bite on camera. When asked how she does it, Clark-Bojin explains that it is not as simple as pressing a button. She starts by creating a template in Photoshop, then hands drawing to make sure the stencil will work in the dough, delineating darker sections from lighter ones. She then uses egg white and cinnamon to press in the details and the oven helps it bake darker. For finer details like around the eyes, hair, or stubble, she hand paints the pies with an emulsifier like vanilla extract or vodka mixed with brown gel food coloring.

Once Clark-Bojin started posting her pies to Reddit in 2018, her art was met with success. Her first post—a trio of Harry Potter-themed pies—received nearly 13,000 upvotes. Altogether, she estimates that more than 10 of her pies have gone viral in various subreddits, including a "Super Mario Bros" pie, a Christmassy "Raspberry Yoda" pie, and a pie celebrating the moon landing, all of which received more than 75,000 upvotes apiece.

Due to her success, Clark-Bojin's pie art has led her to some incredible opportunities. She has produced pie videos for the Food Network, been featured in Ripley's Believe it or Not!, and even appeared on TODAY to judge a pie contest alongside chef Marcus Samuelsson and Pieconic NY owner Christopher Knable.

Despite the complexity of her creations, Clark-Bojin insists that anyone can pick up the craft of pie art. She says that all of the "intimidating-looking things" she posts are just science tricks she figured out through trial and error and is always willing to share her secrets on her social media channels. Clark-Bojin's pie art has become a source of joy and inspiration for many. She hopes that her work will continue to bring happiness to the world. After all, as she says, "pie is the ultimate comfort food."