Pie through the year
- Spring: strawberry rhubarb is the opening act, as soon as local rhubarb shows up.
- Early summer: sour cherry, strawberry and the first blueberries.
- High summer: peach, blackberry, mixed berry and Key lime, a cool, tart custard pie from Florida.
- Fall: apple in every form, from double-crust to Dutch apple with crumb topping, plus pear and cranberry.
- Thanksgiving and winter: pumpkin, pecan, sweet potato, buttermilk and chess pies, with chocolate and coconut cream pies for the holidays.
Bakeries that work with local farms will rotate fruit pies as the harvest moves. A peach pie in February is almost certainly made with frozen or canned fruit; that is not wrong, but the July version will taste brighter.
The crust tells you who made it
Bakers argue about fat endlessly. All-butter crust has the best flavor and browns deeply, but it is harder to handle. Lard, the old farmhouse choice, makes a very flaky crust with a savory note. Shortening is easy to work with and stays tender, though it has little flavor, and many bakers blend it with butter. A flaky crust shows visible layers when cut, a golden, blistered top, and a bottom that is browned and crisp, not pale or gummy.
Cream and custard pies are often baked in a pre-baked (blind-baked) shell or a cookie-crumb crust such as graham cracker. Meringue should be lightly browned with no weeping beads of syrup. Regional styles vary too: the Midwest has a strong tradition of sugar cream pie, and the South of chess and buttermilk pies.
Beating the Thanksgiving rush
Thanksgiving is the busiest pie week of the year. Many bakeries open preorders in late October or early November and close them several days before the holiday once they hit capacity. Plan to order at least one to two weeks ahead, and pick up on Tuesday or Wednesday. Popular pie shops can sell out of walk-in pies by midday Wednesday.
Whole 9-inch pies generally run about $20 to $40, with specialty and deep-dish pies higher. Slices usually cost $4 to $8, and hand pies $3 to $6. If you need more than one pie, order a mix of a fruit pie that can sit on the counter and a custard pie that needs the fridge, so you are not fighting for refrigerator space on the day. Some bakeries also sell frozen unbaked pies that you bake at home, which lets you serve one warm from the oven; ask how long to bake and at what temperature.
Fridge or counter?
Fruit pies can stay at room temperature, loosely covered, for up to two days; refrigerate after that. Pumpkin, sweet potato, custard, cream and meringue pies contain eggs or dairy and must be refrigerated within two hours. Pecan pie is safest in the fridge too. Rewarm fruit pies in a 325°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes to re-crisp the crust.
