The Difference Between Pies and Tarts (2024)

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The Difference Between Pies and Tarts? ›

Pies are served straight from the dish in which they were baked. A tart is a sweet or savory dish with shallow sides and only a bottom crust. Tart crusts are usually made from pastry dough: traditionally flour, unsalted butter, cold water, and sometimes sugar. The goal is a firm, crumbly crust.

The main difference is that tarts only have a bottom crust, and the crust is much thicker than a pie crust. Galettes – This is basically a pie made without using a pie dish, but because that would be too simple galettes can be made with any type of pastry dough.

In French cooking we make a difference between a tart pan (for quiches or fruit tarts with no filling) and a pie pan (for American style pies and cakes such as the NY cheesecake). You will find both sizes here: the tart pan is wider and shallow. The pie dish is smaller but deeper.

What Is a Tart? A tart is a freestanding shallow open-faced pastry, often baked in a tart pan with a removable bottom, with fluted or straight sides. Smaller tarts are occasionally referred to as tartlets, which fit very adorably in the palm of your hand.

While both pie and tarts are (usually) desserts with two main components, a baked crust, and a filling, there are a few marked differences between the two and some careful things to consider when making either, like choosing ingredients and deciding when and where to serve them.

In America, pizzas are considered a pie. This definition refers to the pie being made of tomato sauce, cheese, and meat and then covered with dough. The name comes from the ingredients layered on top of each other. Then, the dough is added on top.

There are four main types of tarts: fruit tarts, custard tarts, chocolate tarts, and savory tarts.

Cheesecake is Technically a Tart

The cheesecake base is composed of a type of pastry shell that can sit at the base of the dessert or surround it on three sides. The top of a cheesecake can be decorated with fresh fruit, whipped cream, pecans, cookies, fruit sauce, or chocolate syrup.

The pie's filling ranges in color from orange to brown and is baked in a single pie shell, usually without a top crust. The pie is generally flavored with pumpkin pie spice, a blend that includes cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves or allspice.

I started off making tarts in a pie pan. It is a workable substitution, but now that I have tart pans of my own, I have to admit that it's much better. Getting the tart part out is so much simpler, and it ends up with lovely scalloped edges.

What are the 4 types of pies? ›

There are four types of pies: cream, fruit, custard, and savory. A pie that contains cooked meat, poultry, seafood, or vegetables in a thick sauce. Examples: Pot pies, Quiche, and Sheppard pie. Made by cooking baking uncooked along with crust.

Some have suggested that it is an alteration (influenced by medieval Latin tartarum, 'Tatar') of Old French torte, ancestor of modern French tourte, a round savoury or sweet pie or tart.

While pies look covered from all sides, tarts are open from the top and you can easily see the filling on top. Another difference lies in the base. While pies have a thin and smooth crust, tarts have a rather thick and crumbly crust which crumbles down when pieces are cut from the tart.

A: Pies and tarts are very similar, but there are a few key differences. Pies are baked in pans with sloped sides and can have a single or double crust. You serve pies right out of the pie dish. Tarts are baked in a shallow-sided tart pan and removed from the pan before serving.

A pie with no top crust can be a tart or flan. Either can be sweet or savoury. One of my favourites is Bakewell tart, which is made with raspberry jam and an almond based filling.

A pumpkin tart isn't too different from a pumpkin pie when it comes to the filling, but one huge distinction is that the former doesn't require making pie dough - something that a lot of people struggle with since it's not only time consuming, but also difficult to get right (the pie dough can be too dry, too wet, hard ...

There are a couple of other things in your kitchen that you can also use as a substitute if you find yourself without a tart pan. According to Leaf, pie pans are also a decent alternative to make a tart crust with, as they come in a similar circular shape to tart pans. Another great substitute is a springform pan.

Deep-dish pies do not have a bottom crust—just a single crust on the top. They're often called pot pies when made with savory fillings. 5. Hand pies are pastry pockets baked on a baking sheet rather than in a pie dish.