The Reason Everyone Should Have A Fruit Pie Recipe In Their Back Pocket

There are a lot of fancy desserts out that you can spend a lot of time making, but they will never be a fruit pie. We don't want to trash all those delicate, complicated dessert recipes because many of them are really good and worth the effort. We know you can't, or at least shouldn't, eat pie all the time. The thing is, pie is about as close as you can get to the perfect dessert, both delicious and relatively simple. Crispy, flaky, buttery crust meets a warm, soft, sweet interior and becomes the ultimate comfort food.

Fruit pie occupies a special place in the pie world too. Pie styles are just as diverse if not more diverse than cake types, from the silky tang of a lemon meringue to the rich, soft, brownie-like chocolate chess pie recipe. The surprising amount of fillings that work with a basic pie crust is part of what makes pie great. Still, fruit pie just feels like what pie is supposed to be. Maybe it's the old-school nature (pies were first created to preserve food after all), or maybe it's just how simple they are, but fruit pies activate a homey feeling that other options don't quite hit. There is one other magical thing about fruit pies that makes them an essential dish to master as a cook, and it also might be part of the reason they feel so special.

So much of the best food we eat is tied to memory. The smell and taste of different dishes evoke certain people, places, and times in our life, making food one of the strongest emotional triggers we have. This may sound like a lot to put on pie, but it speaks to why fruit pies are great. More so than many of the foods we still eat, fruit is tied to seasons and your local geography. While you can always grab some strawberries from your supermarket, the best fruit, and thus the best pies, are going to be ones that were freshly picked near you. Fruit pies have a connection to home and times of the year that not many other baked goods evoke, and that makes them memorable.

The other nice thing about fruit pies is that even for a cook who is not a big baker, it's not too hard to get one right. You gotta do the crust well, but after that, all it takes is the seasonal fruit of your choice, some sugar, and some thickening starch, ideally tapioca. You might want to add some spice to your apple pie or use some lemon zest in your blueberry pie recipe, but the whole point of fruit pies is to emphasize the fruit. Learn how to make a good fruit pie the simplicity may have you turning them out every season with ease, and each one could be memorable.