How To Make Monk Gyatso’s Fruit Pies | Avatar: The Last Airbender Inspired Recipes

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ORIGINAL POST: August 2015 – Check out the original recipe and images after the recipe card. I always like to see how people have grown and evolved throughout their creative journey. Hope you enjoy! The 2023 updated recipe is below. Flameo Hotmen!

air recipe for atla

Appa! YIP, YIP!

It’s time to make the fruit pies from Avatar: The Last Airbender! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, all I have to say to you is:

“The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.”

Now that only the real benders are left, today we’re getting in touch with our inner Avatar and making the fruit pies that Monk Gyatso bakes with Aang right before Aang leaves the temple and is trapped in an iceberg for a hundred years.

monk gyatos fruit pies

Monk Gyatso was one of the greatest airbenders of all time – and it was under his guidance that Aang was able to become an airbending master by the age of twelve (which is why he already has his tattoos at such a young age).

air nomads
Source: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Right after Aang is told he’s the Avatar, Gyatso and Aang share a moment where they bake fruit pies together to help distract Aang from the revelation that he’s the Avatar. Aang is obviously distracted and nervous, feeling like he’s not ready and scared.

Gyatso tells him, “The secret is in the gooey center” – right before they airbend the pies off the balcony and onto the heads of the other air temple leaders.

air nomad fruit pies
Source: Avatar: The Last Airbender

I’m the AVATAR and You Gotta DEAL WITH IT

I’ve loved Avatar: The Last Airbender since it first aired on Nickelodeon back in 2005 (I know, I’m really aging myself here). In fact, I remember watching the three-part series finale episode LIVE on a Saturday morning, tucked into a pillow fort my friend and I had made. By the time the show ended, we were in high school, but the Sozin’s Comet event is definitely one of my favorite core memories.

I’ve made these pies before – but it was definitely time for an update to the recipe. And thanks to dozens of requests to make these pies over on TikTok, I figured it was high time to take on the task.

momo and fruit pies

Aren’t Airbenders Vegetarians?

Airbenders are vegetarians in the story, though it’s not really mentioned if they are vegan. The show creators mention that Aang’s diet is based on what Buddists consume.

However, considering that the monks raised air bison, it wouldn’t be too much of a leap to assume they also consumed milk (probably from flying bison) and eggs too.

So vegetarian: yes. Vegan? Probably not.

Making Monk Gyatso’s Fruit Pies

Monk Gyatso was the world’s greatest airbender – and apparently a master baker, too.

  • Cream cheese – room temperature is best for a smooth batter.
  • Sweetened condensed milk – helps to sweeten and thicken the cheesecake, giving it a super-smooth texture.
  • Egg yolks – add richness and help the pie set up while baking.
  • Vanilla – for a little extra flavor boost.
  • Graham cracker crumbs + butter – the foundation for your cheesecake crust.
  • Coconut palm sugar – a nutty, caramel-like sugar that gives a subtle sweetness and is common in Southeast Asian cuisine.
  • Fruit spreads/curds (blueberry, strawberry, orange, lemon) – for those gooey centers, which Gyatso would approve of.
  • Heavy whipping cream + powdered sugar – to make a rich, fluffy whipped topping.
  • Orange juice – adds a bit of tang to the whipped topping.
  • Food coloring – for that Air Temple-approved colorful finish.
avatar fruit pies

The Secret is in the Gooey Center

Each fruit pie has a different flavor fruit center. For my pies I used blueberry, strawberry, orange and lemon fillings. To really speed up the baking process, I used premade preserved, marmalades and fruit curds to use as my gooey center. These products are stable, meaning that they won’t mess up the cheesecake as it bakes around the filling – something you may run into issues with if you make the fillings yourself.

That’s not to say that you can’t make the gooey centers on your own if you are feeling extra adventurous. DIY your own compotes for the fruity centers of the pie for an extra authentic flair on this recipe.

Once the fruit fillings/preserves have baked and cooled they will once again solidify, making them gooey but not runny – or as Monk Gyatso says, “the secret is in the gooey center!”

gyatos fruit pies recipe

Let’s Cook!

Preheat your oven to 325°F and grease each springform pan with cooking spray. Set those aside, and let’s get bending!

Earthbending the Crust into Shape

We begin with the crust. Mix your graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and coconut palm sugar in a large bowl until you have a nice, crumbly mixture. Press about 1/4 cup of this into the bottom of each springform pan, smoothing it out with the bottom of a glass. Once you’re done, pop those pans in the freezer to firm up while you work on the filling.

Whipping Up the Air Nomad Cream Cheese Filling

Next up: the cream cheese filling. Beat your room-temp cream cheese, vanilla, and sweetened condensed milk with a hand mixer until the mixture is smooth. Add in your egg yolks and mix until well combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go to make sure everything gets incorporated.

Mastering the Gooey Center: Water Tribe Style

Now it’s time to fill the pans! Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the crusts, filling each one until it’s about half an inch from the top. For the gooey centers, add 1-2 tablespoons of fruit spread right in the middle. The key is to make sure the filling sits just beneath the top of the cheesecake.

Grab a 9×13 cake pan and place the filled springform pans inside. Pour water into the cake pan until it comes about a quarter inch from the top of the springform pans. This water bath helps the cheesecakes bake evenly and prevents cracking.

easiest fruit pies from avatar recipe

Patience Like the Avatar—Time to Chill

Bake for 20-30 minutes until the centers just barely wobble when you give the pan a shake. Turn off the oven but leave the pies inside to cool down with the oven for another 20-30 minutes. This slow cooling process prevents the cheesecakes from sinking.

Once they’re out of the oven, let them cool at room temperature for 30 minutes before transferring them to the fridge. Chill the pies for at least 8 hours, or overnight if you have the time. This part is crucial to getting that perfect, chilled consistency.

Whipping Up the Wind: Air Nomad Topping

While the pies are chilling, throw your mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer to chill for the whipped topping. When you’re ready, beat one cup of cream at a time until it starts to thicken. Then add powdered sugar and orange juice, beating until the cream becomes spreadable. Mix in the food coloring until you get the shades you like.

Time to Serve

When your pies are nice and chilled, let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes to help release them from the springform pans. Carefully unlock the pans and remove the pies using a spatula.

Now, the fun part: pipe that whipped topping over each pie, making sure to cover the gooey centers. You can use a piping bag or just snip the corner off a gallon baggie for this step.

Serve the pies right away, because as tasty as the whipped topping is, it can start to lose its shape after a while. Or, if you’re feeling especially like an airbender, airbend them onto the heads of your monk leaders!

gooey center pies from avatar

Extra Tips for Benders:

  • Room temperature ingredients are key. Using room-temp cream cheese and eggs will give you the smoothest batter. Cold ingredients can cause lumps!
  • Avoid over-baking. The pies should be slightly jiggly in the center when they come out of the oven. Overbaking will make them dense and dry.
  • No springform pans? If you don’t have springform pans, you can use a muffin tin with cupcake liners as a substitute. Just adjust the baking time to about 15-20 minutes.
  • Chill for success. It might be tempting to dive into these pies right away, but chilling them for at least 8 hours (or overnight) makes a huge difference in texture.

Common Fruit Pie Questions:

  • Can I use different fruit spreads? Absolutely! Feel free to mix and match your favorite fruit spreads for a personalized twist.
  • Can I make these pies without the fruit centers? Yes, if you prefer a plain cheesecake, you can skip the fruit centers. But Gyatso would probably say you’re missing the “secret” to happiness or something wise like that.
  • How do I store leftover pies? Keep them in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days. They can also be frozen (minus the whipped topping) for longer storage.
  • What if my cheesecake cracks? No worries – just cover any cracks with extra whipped topping. Problem solved!
appa clay figurine

Watch It on TikTok

@fictionalfeastfelicia Replying to @shanz.._ I've been thinking about Monk Gyatso's fruit pies since I first saw them in 2005… the secret is in the gooey center 🧁 #fictionalfeast #reciperequest #thestarvingchef #monkgyatso #avataraang #fruitpies #airbenderchallenge #foodfromtelevision #gyatso #aang #airtemple #fictionalfeasts #reciperequests ♬ The Avatar's Love (From Avatar: The Last Airbender) – CJ Music & Narratio

What ficitional feasts should I make next? Let me know in the comments or head on over to TikTok to leave your request!

Monk Gyatso’s fruit pies are a tasty way to connect with the spirit of Avatar: The Last Airbender. They’re fun to make, and the gooey centers will remind you that dessert is more than just baking – it’s about finding joy in the little things, like airbending a pie onto your teacher’s head. With each bite, you’ll feel like you’re sitting down with Aang and Gyatso at the Southern Air Temple, enjoying one last sweet moment before the world changed forever.

Now go share these pies with your fellow benders and remember: the secret is always in the gooey center. Flameo, Hotmen!

Air Nomad Fruit Pies | Avatar: The Last Airbender Inspired Recipes

The Starving Chef
These fruit pies combine smooth cream cheese filling with gooey fruit centers, inspired by Monk Gyatso’s pies from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
No ratings yet
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 25 minutes
Chill 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Course Dessert, Fictional Feasts
Cuisine Avatar: The Last Airbender, Cake, Pie
Servings 6 mini cakes

Ingredients
  

  • 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
  • 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 4 tablespoons blueberry fruit spread
  • 4 tablespoons strawberry fruit spread
  • 4 tablespoons orange fruit spread
  • 4 tablespoons lemon curd or fruit spread
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 4 tablespoons orange juice

FOR CRUST:

  • 3 cups graham cracker crumbs finely processed
  • ½ cup butter melted
  • 2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar or sub brown sugar

FOR TOPPING:

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease each springform pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the crust. Stir until a thick, crumbly mixture forms, clumping into chunks. Press about 1/4 cup of the mixture into the bottom of each springform pan, using the bottom of a glass to create a smooth, flat surface. Place in the freezer while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
  • Using a hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese, vanilla, and sweetened condensed milk. Blend in the egg yolks until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you mix.
  • Pour the filling into each prepared springform pan until it’s about a half inch from the top. Spoon about 1-2 tablespoons of the fruit spread fillings into the center of each pie so that the filling is just barely exposed on top. The cream cheese mixture should be about a quarter inch from the top once the filling is added.
  • Transfer the filled springform pans into a 9×13 cake pan. Fill the cake pan with water, about a quarter inch from the top of each pan. Place into the oven on the middle rack and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the centers just wobble slightly when shifted. Turn off the heat and let the oven cool down without removing the pies for an additional 20-30 minutes.
  • Remove the pies from the cooled oven and take them out of the water bath. Cool at room temperature for 30 more minutes. Transfer the pies to the fridge to cool overnight or for at least 8 hours (or until no longer warm and chilled through).
  • While the pies cool, place the mixing bowl for the whipped topping, along with the beaters for the hand mixer, into the freezer to chill. It’s important that the bowl and beaters are very cold.
  • Use a hand mixer to beat one cup of whipping cream at a time until frothy. Then add in the powdered sugar and orange juice. Continue to beat until the topping is whipped and thickened into a spreadable consistency. Beat in the food coloring to achieve the desired shades. Transfer the whipped topping to a gallon bag or piping bag. Repeat with the remaining whipped cream and colors.
  • Once chilled completely, remove the pies from the fridge and let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes to help release the sides from the springform pans. Unlock the springform pans and carefully remove the pies from the pan bottoms with a spatula.
  • Place each pie on a small strip of parchment or onto serving platters. Pipe the whipped topping onto each pie so that it covers the gooey center.
  • Serve the pies immediately or the whipped topping will start to lose its shape. Or airbend the pies onto the heads of your monk leaders. Enjoy!
Keyword cake, cheesecake, pie
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
previously on the starving chef

Check out the remenants of original blog post below!

original fruit pies from avatar

Air nomads are known throughout the Avatar universe to be devout vegetarians and excellent bakers. Despite their vegetarian nature, the air nomads still indulge in milks and eggs, which is why I felt no qualms from the Avatar while making this variant of their nation’s famous fruit pies.

I tried to recreate the fruit pies as they are seen in one of the very first episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender when Aang is recalling his time learning he was the Avatar and training with his mentor, Monk Gyatso.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I love Avatar: The Last Airbender just as much as I love me some Harry Potter. I even went as far to create Appa and Momo clay sculptures in anticipation of the release of The Legend of Korra’s final season.

If all of that sounds like gibberish to you, then all I have to say to you is: “The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.”

Even if that training was sending the fruit pies flying over the walls and onto the heads of the leaders!

I wanted to make an airy dessert worthy of air bender’s talents. I went with a cream cheese pie – which tastes similar to a cheesecake, but with a more fluffy, less creamy, texture. To imitate to colors of the fruit pies Gyatso makes, I decided to make pies that were flavored strawberry, blueberry, orange, and lemon.

I believe these pies would have made Avatar Aang very happy – and perhaps even Iroh sold them in his tea shop in Ba Sing Se in honor of the birth of a new air nation generation.

All-in-all, these pies have Appa’s seal of approval.

clay appa and fruit pies

Restore your honor with this Fire Nation Turkey-Duck.

cabbage steaks

or MY CABBAGES!!

Dine with Katara and Sokka with this authentic tentacle soup made by Gran Gran herself.

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