38 pies and tarts that end a meal with joy

1/15

Maury Rubin’s pumpkin pie takes a brilliant approach to crust.
Recipe: Maury Rubin’s pumpkin pie
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

2/15

Recipe: Pumpkin pie with bacon and bourbon crust

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

3/15

Rich custard filling is flavored with bourbon, chocolate and nuts in this recipe for bourbon chocolate pie. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

4/15

Shaker lemon pie (Bryan Chan / Los Angeles Times)

5/15

Tart with grapefruit curd and Campari (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

6/15

Recipe: Apple custard crumb pie

(Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

7/15

Recipe: Sweet potato pie with pecan streusel

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

8/15

Mincemeat pie gets a festive top crust. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

9/15

Complete with an olive oil crust. Here’s the recipe. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

10/15

Includes walnut crust, Granny Smith apples and cranberry sauce. Holiday pie recipe. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

11/15

A fresh spin on a holiday classic. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

12/15

If Thanksgiving is the classic American food holiday, pumpkin pie is the classic ending for it. Give this one a try. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

13/15

Recipe: Pear-blackberry pie

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

14/15

Two Thanksgiving traditions in one pie. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

15/15

What to do with all that leftover turkey? Make it the star of a savory pie.
Recipe: Turkey pot pie
(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

By Tenny Tatusian

Nov. 23, 2013 8 AM PT

A perfect pie on the dinner table ends a meal on a cheery note and sends us off into the night with not just the satisfaction of endurance, but with joy.

Who doesn’t want to make a spectacular pie? Or a tart, or a lovely mini, double-crust pie or a hand pie that doesn’t require a plate? The California Cookbook, the L.A. Times’ searchable database of more than 650 delicious recipes, has 38 tested pie recipes that will thrill your family and friends.

Thanksgiving is, of course, a day of tradition so we have five pumpkin pie and four pecan pie recipes.

Try Maury Rubin’s pumpkin pie for a brilliant approach to crust. “You don’t have to worry about overworking the dough because even if you knead it and slap it and press into it to patch up some torn spots, it turns out great,” wrote Deputy Food Editor Betty Hallock.

California Cookbook: Delicious recipes from The Times Test Kitchen

Bourbon seems to be the booze of choise for pies. We have a pumpkin pie with a bacon (!) and bourbon crust and a bourbon chocolate pie recipe that ran in 2003, just before the Kentucky Derby.

It is the season of Meyer lemons and this lemon shaker pie will change everything. It’s really a double-crust tart -- you make it in a 9-inch tart pan -- and that crust, which takes minutes in the food processor, turns out so flaky you might think it’s puff pastry. The lemons are sliced paper thin; they go in rind and all (just grab the seeds).

Get your hands on a few large grapefruit to make a tart with grapefruit curd and Campari. Food Editor Russ Parsons described this curd as “on the buttery side but with still a pucker and fruit character.”

The apple custard crumb pie from Gjelina Take Away pastry chef Nicole Rucker calls for dried apples, which, gloriously, means you don’t have to peel, core and slice.

There’s more. So much more. The site will ask you to register, which only requires you to drop in an email address. Then be on your way to the day that will end well because it will end with a perfect pie.

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