The holiday season is here, and for many of us more sweets are coming with it! It’s generally not a good idea to go overboard in this regard, but in all seriousness the holiday season is a good excuse to eat a few candies and cookies – and of course, bake a few pies for dinners with families and friends.
There are some fairly traditional pies for this time of year. Many love pecan pie in the fall and winter, for instance, and pumpkin pie has become a staple for Thanksgiving, and in some cases even Christmas feasts. Then of course, a chocolate pie will never steer you wrong. But if you like the idea of changing things up a little bit this season, here are some alternative pies you might consider baking.
1 – S’mores Pie
We’ll start off with a decadent one, and a perfect alternative to a standard chocolate pie. S’mores have to be among the most popular desserts around, not even just as desserts, but as concepts. There are s’mores cocktails and dessert-in-a-glass recipes. There’s a mobile money-earning app named after the treat. There’s even a legitimate board game that challenges you to “build as many s’mores as possible.” They’re kind of iconic treats. But making a s’mores pie probably tops just about every other interpretation. There are various recipes online, and they’re actually quite straightforward (though if you’re going for a graham cracker crust it can get a bit delicate).
2 – Cinnamon Pie
Pecan pie is often viewed as a sort of seasonal alternative to more traditional sweets (which isn’t to say it isn’t usually very sweet itself). A cinnamon pie is a nice alternative, a little bit unconventional but still invoking popular seasonal flavors and making for a perfectly sweet dessert. Here too you can find some fairly simple recipes online – and for that matter if an entire cinnamon pie seems a little bit intense, you can also find some excellent cinnamon sugar crusts for other pies. One tip: this is barely worth making without vanilla ice cream to go along with it (but that can be a borderline heavenly combination).
3 – Cherry Pie
Like s’mores, cherries are sort of all over the place in food and culture these days, and we almost forget some of the things they’re best for. They’re almost the garnishes of fruits, popular in children’s beverages, on top of sundaes, and even in mobile games and slot machine reels. Adding insult to ridicule, one review of a fruit slot online even points out that cherries are the lowest paying symbol. It’s no wonder we more or less dismiss them as actual dessert ingredients! But if you’re tired of the same old apple pie (the typical fruit-related option this time of year), a traditional cherry pie is always a good option. My own hot tip: take a traditional cherry pie recipe and work in either light amounts of white chocolate syrup or a white chocolate powder on top.
4 – Pear Pie
Finally, I couldn’t resist pointing to a specific recipe online for a triple pear pie with walnut crust that sounds delightfully different and refreshing. Absolutely packed with pear, it seems like the perfect fruit alternative to apple or even cherry pie, and perhaps a slightly less sweet option for anyone at your table who might not be into decadent desserts. A slice of this pie with a dash of whipped cream should certainly do the trick!
This is a contributed post from Gavin Powell; for more information please visit this page.
