The First Slice Of Pie Will Never Fall Apart Again Thanks To This Trick

Pie is one of those desserts that we come back to time and again, savoring its buttery, flaky crust and its sweet as well as varied fillings that range from strawberry to lemon meringue to banana pudding. Delectable as a dessert or delightful with a cup of strong coffee, pie is a great option to pick up from your local bakery. But it can be even more fun to tackle the challenge of making one at home.

Although it's a skill that gets easier with practice, pie baking can initially be littered with pitfalls from not adding enough water to the dough to baking the dessert in the wrong type of dish. Another challenge that seems to be all too common with pie — even the ones found at the bakery — is how delicate it is. Pie just seems to fall apart when you slice it; an issue that tends to be especially pronounced when cutting the first slice. It never seems to come out as a neat triangle but instead slumping on the plate in a jumble of fruit filling and shards of crust. It may still be tasty, but not at all pretty (via Bon Appétit). But here is a trick that will help you serve picture-perfect pie slices every time.

If you've ever removed a perfectly domed and fragrant pie from the oven just to have the first slice slump into a mess as you try to extract it from the pan, you're not alone, according to America's Test Kitchen. On the outlet's Instagram account, it states that, "[the] first slice always falls apart." But America's Test Kitchen shares a handy tip for avoiding this mess: When you go to cut that initial slice, cut two, instead. Doing so will add just a little bit more wiggle room for whichever slice you remove first, helping it to slide out in one neat, pretty piece instead of crumpling into a heap of filling and crust.

Meanwhile, Bon Appétit shares a few extra insurance policies that, in addition to the above tip, can help preserve the integrity of that first slice of pie. The outlet suggests letting a home-baked pie cool completely before cutting into it, which will help the hot filling set up instead of remaining runny. Another suggestion is to choose an offset pie server, which will easily slide under the dessert's bottom crust (bonus points for a server with a ridged or serrated edge, which will help encourage any messy extra filling to fall back into the pan). With these tips, your next first slice of pie may surely be Instagram-worthy.