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What comes to your mind, when you think of Dessert pies? For many of us, pie conjures homespun memories of rolling dough, piling sweetened slices of seasonal fruit, home picked apples or other types of fruit. Or what about sitting at a diner or restaurant starring at the showcase of pies spinning in a showcase, with our mouths watering! Staring at the whipped cream or meringue toppings higher than eye level.
These are pies you bake after going to the orchard, market or farms in the summer or fall. Buttery, flaky top and bottom crusts encase mounds of perfectly stewed fruit in these quintessential American pies. Because the top crust shields the filling, the juicy fruit usually requires a thickening agent such as ground tapioca or cornstarch to keep it from being too soupy. The most traditional crusts feature sliced vents for moisture to escape, although some fruit fillings, such as cherry and peach, require more evaporation and often sport lattice-woven crusts. You can brush the top crust with an egg wash and if desired sprinkle with the many types of sugar available.
Cream pies are filled with pastry cream, a cool, creamy, billowy custard that’s cooked completely on the stove and then spread into a fully baked pie crust before the whole thing goes into the refrigerator to chill. These pies are frequently topped with whipped cream.
Custard pies feature an egg thickened filling that’s a bit firmer than pastry cream. A mixture of eggs, dairy, and sugar bakes until set within a single crust. Once cooled, the custard is a creamy, light eggy filling that coheres with the crust. A custard pie is done when the center still wobbles gently. Overcooked custard pies can have rubbery, grainy fillings. Sometimes we cook the custard in a saucepan before adding it to the pie to give it a head start, this ensures it bakes quickly so the edges of the custard don’t overcook before the center sets. The custard can be infused with just about any flavor you can dream up.
These pies feature a lofty plume of whipped egg whites, that adorns the filling like a fluffy, sweet cloud. The meringue, which we whip up in a stand mixer and then bake briefly on the pie to brown, usually tops the custard or curd filled pies.
Tarts are an elegant subcategory of pie. The pastry, which is typically baked in a short sided fluted pan, isn’t flaky like a pie crust, instead it’s sweet and has a closed crumb, reminiscent of shortbread. The filling for tarts is often creamy and rich and can be baked with the tart shell, like in a Lemon Tart added after, as with Fres h Fruit Tart and sometimes topped with fruit, like in a French Apple Tart.
This pastry is a tart (it’s open faced), but it’s also kind of like a pie in that it has a flaky crust and usually features a fruit filling that cook’s during baking. It’s made free-form which is why we use the names free-form tart and galette interchangeably on a baking sheet, so it’s simple to pull together. Since the center is open, the fruit in these tarts essentially roasts, and their juices usually tighten up without the help of an additional thickener.
A Chiffon Pie has old-fashioned charm. It’s filling feels much lighter than cream or custard pies-almost foamy, yet still satisfying. The mousse is supported by custard, meringue or gelatin, or a combination. They’re icebox pies that feature no bake fillings that set up in the refrigerator.
This one is pretty self-explanatory and pretty delicious. Ice cream is softened, maybe combined with mix-ins, and spread into a spreadable cookie crust for a sundae in sliceable form.
So, I have discussed the many types of pies there are and they are all so delicious! I can’t say that I have a favorite and I enjoy baking them all at different types of the seasons. I hope that you will try a recipe that might interest you. Let me know, what type of pie you bake and how it turns out. I would Love to hear from you and post of your photo of your Pie that you chose to Bake!
Nex months, Blog I will discuss the different types of Pie Crusts.
Until then,
Happy Baking!!
Lucille
