Thanksgiving Pies & Turkey Day Desserts
by Renee Shelton

Thanksgiving cakes and pies can be very creative, whether rustic or fall-themed. Left is a stacked cake with fall leaves, courtesy Flickr: User katinalynn through a creative commons license. Center shows a selection of pies, courtesy Morguefile: User ladyheart. Right shows Thanksgiving cupcakes made with Nutter Butter turkeys, courtesy Flickr: User kristin_a.

Thanksgiving: Pie Primer Day

Thanksgiving is generally all about the pie, with pumpkin or pecan (and oftentimes both) being a staple of the Thanksgiving dinner table for dessert. Open faced, lattice crust, double crust, crumb top: all give an excuse to try out a new recipe or make an old one new again with a pinch of spice or a few grates of fresh ginger or orange peel.

Preparing the Pie Crust

Pies all begin with some kind of pie crust. After making the pie dough, roll out enough for the bottom of the pie pan, using just enough flour to prevent sticking. Press into the bottom of the pie plate. Dock the pie dough if the recipe calls for it, and make ample space in the refrigerator for chilling the pie crust before filling, if you need to chill the crusts before filling. Some recipes may call for sprinkling the bottom with graham cracker crumbs to help soak up some juices during baking.

Pie dough, courtesy of Flickr: User missy & the universe through a Creative Commons License.	Rolling out pie dough, courtesy of Flickr: User The Boreka Diary through a Creative Commons License.	Pressing pie dough in the pie pan, courtesy of Flickr: User Robert Couse-Baker through a Creative Commons License.
Docking the pie crust, courtesy of Morguefile: User maxstraeten.	Chilling pie crusts, courtesy of Flickr: User joebeone through a Creative Commons License.	Crumbs will help soak up juices, courtesy of Flickr: User kimberlykv through a Creative Commons License.

Pie Crust Decorations

Both single and double crust pies can be creatively finished. If the pie is single crust, consider creating different borders with cut out pieces of scrap pie dough. Thanksgiving pies are enhanced by cut out pieces of leaves or acorns. Double crust pies can be slit decoratively, or leaving some of the pie filling show through with lattice tops made with strips of pie dough weaved together. Or, cut out small shapes with cookie cutters to vent and to decorate the tops. Pie crust edges can be crimped using your fingers, pinched with pastry tongs or tweezers, or pressed down using the back of a fork.

Cut out pieces of pie dough, courtesy of Flickr: User readthisandkeep through a Creative Commons License.	Pie crust decoration, courtesy of Flickr: User qwrrty through a Creative Commons License.	Pie crust decoration, courtesy of Flickr: User readthisandkeep through a Creative Commons License.
Pie crust borders, courtesy of Flickr: User various brennemans through a Creative Commons License.	Crimped edges, courtesy of Flickr: User Tim Patterson through a Creative Commons License.	Crimped edges, courtesy of Flickr: User Jason Riedy through a Creative Commons License.
Crimping dough, courtesy of Flickr: User Robert S. Donovan through a Creative Commons License.	Lattice crust, courtesy of Flickr: User jeffreyw through a Creative Commons License.	Lattice crust, courtesy of Flickr: User Robert S. Donovan through a Creative Commons License.
Crust decoration, courtesy of Flickr: User joebeone through a Creative Commons License.	Cut outs for crust, courtesy of Flickr: User neil conway through a Creative Commons License.	Star crust, courtesy of morguefile: User veggiegretz.

Cookie, Graham Cracker Crumb, and Pressed Crusts

Make your pies out of different crusts, such as shortbread cookies or graham crackers. These are perfect for cheesecakes, and for cream pie fillings that are not baked in the oven. Some recipes call for baking the dough in the oven to create a cookie crust that is crisp, and other recipes will call for crushed cookies and melted butter to be combined and pressed into the pie pan before filling. A pressed pie crust is also used for crumbly dough that cannot be rolled out

Shortbread cookie crust, courtesy of Flickr: User anathea through a Creative Commons License.	Graham cracker crust, courtesy of Flickr: User little blue hen through a Creative Commons License.	Chocolate pressed crust, courtesy of Flickr: User jessicafm through a Creative Commons License.

Pecan Pies: Arranging the Pecans

Of course, pecan pies remain a staple during Thanksgiving. Here are some ideas for a favorite pecan recipe: distribute the pecans differently. The photos show pecan pies, all finished differently. The first one on the left is a random scattering of chopped pecans in the filling. The middle shows the outside edges laid out with whole pecans. The right one shows rows of pecan halves arranged in concentric rows.

Pecans distributed evenly, courtesy of morguefile: User mconners.	Pecan halves arranged on the border, courtesy of Flickr: User Clearly Ambiquous through a Creative Commons License.	Pecan halves arranged in concentric form, courtesy of Flickr: User @joefoodie through a Creative Commons License.

Other Ideas for Thanksgiving Desserts

And when pies just won't do, here are some ideas for fall-themed and Thansgiving-inspired desserts.

For fun, an Anti-Thanksgiving turkey decorated cake. Image courtesy Flickr: User Sonnett through a creative commons license.	Turkey cake. Image courtesy Flickr: User Nesbitt Photo through a creative commons license.	Turkey cupcake. Image courtesy Flickr: User ginnerobot through a creative commons license.
Thanksgiving wedding cake. Image courtesy Flickr: User katinalynn through a creative commons license.	Cake made of cut out autumn leaves, courtesy Wilton.	Thanksgiving wedding cake. Image courtesy Flickr: User kristin_a through a creative commons license.
These following cakes are courtesy Wilton:

All photos above copyright the respective artists and owners.