Pie vs. Cake

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Pecan?  Cherry?  Blueberry lemon buttermilk?  How are you going to celebrate National Pie Day?

“We’re celebrating all things pie.  We love eating pie, making pie, buying pie, teaching pie-making, anything to do with pie,” says Linda Hoskins, executive director of the American Pie Council (yes, that’s a thing).

“We think pie is a great American icon, it deserves at least a day on its own.  There’s a big rush for pies during Thanksgiving and the holidays but then we kind of seem to forget about it as the New Year comes along so we just want it put it back in everyone’s head to grab a slice,” she tells News1130 from her Chicago office, perhaps the nerve centre for the upper echelons of “pie society.”

Which type of pie should you choose for a Pie Day party?  If you’d like to partake in the most popular kinds, there are 231 documented varieties of apple pie, pumpkin pie was first introduced to the holiday table at the American pilgrim’s second Thanksgiving in 1623, and pecan pie is the third most popular choice south of the border.

Surprisingly, Canadian tastes differ from the American pie palate, with lemon meringue coming in just behind apple in a 2012 survey, but on either side of the border, Hoskins says pie binds us together.

“I think pie is more than just a dessert, though it is a delicious dessert.  I think people tend to gather around when they have pie, a meeting of friends and family and talking over a nice slice and a cup of coffee.  It’s also very nostalgic; everyone remembers their grandmother or somebody baking pies.  It conjures memories of your youth,” says Hoskins.

But not everyone is a pie person. What about the great pie versus cake debate?

“Well, I just say try a slice of pie. I like it better than cake. It seems to have a lot more components to it — it can fruit, it has crust, it has different textures and tastes whereas cake only has… cake.”

A convincing argument!  But which has the richer history?  Pies and cakes both date back as far as the ancient Egyptians. The Romans may first have baked pies after learning about them from the Greeks, baked in reeds rather than edible crusts.

Fruit pies or tarts (pasties) were probably first made in the 1500s.  English tradition credits making the first cherry pie to Queen Elizabeth I.

Of course it was another queen, Marie Antoinette of France, who is often credited with uttering the infamous phrase, “Let them eat cake!”

So which is better?

The answer isn’t a piece of… y’know.  Or as simple as… the other thing.  Why not make room on your plate for both?

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