An interesting way to decorate a pie is with coloured dough. Freeze dried powders of various berries such as blueberries and blackberries can be used as well as red beet root juice and other colourful foods. For brown dough, and for chocolate pies the dough can be coloured with cocoa powder and coffee. Here is a variation on an original recipe from Williams Sonoma:
Chocolate pie dough
150 g – (1-1/4 cup) flour
100 g – (1 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 – 3 Tbl brown sugar (depending upon how bitter your coffee is)
1 tsp espresso powder
1/4 tsp salt
100 g (1/2 cup) cold butter cut in small cubes
90 g (6 Tbl) espresso or cold coffee (or more as needed)
Combine the dry ingredients and then cut in butter with pastry blender or in a food processor. Add the coffee and gently mix to wet the ingredients and form a stiff dough. Refrigerate for an hour before using, or freeze in an air-tight container or wrapped in clear plastic wrap. The brown strips in the Lattice Pie above are made from the chocolate and coffee dough.