List of pies, tarts and flans facts for kids

A pie is a yummy baked dish, often made with a pastry crust that holds a filling inside. This filling can be either sweet (like fruit pies) or savory (like meat pies).

A tart is similar to a pie but usually has an open top, meaning the filling isn't covered by pastry. Tarts often have a shortcrust pastry base and can be sweet (often with fruit or custard) or savory. Some other treats like croustades, crostatas, galettes, tarte tatins, and turnovers are all types of pies and tarts.

In Britain, a flan is an open pastry or sponge cake with a sweet or savory filling. They are usually round and made with shortcrust pastry.

Delicious Pies, Tarts, and Flans

Here's a list of some popular and interesting pies, tarts, and flans from around the world!

• Aloo pie
  • Origin: Trinidad and Tobago
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: This soft, fried pastry is like a big samosa. It's made from flour and water, filled with spiced, mashed potatoes and sometimes other veggies like green peas. It looks a bit like a calzone.

• Apple crisp (also called Apple crumble)
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A dessert with baked apples topped with a crunchy, crispy crust. You can use different fruits, but apple and rhubarb crisp is a common favorite. It's a simpler cousin to apple pie.

• Apple pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom (England)
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A classic fruit pie filled with crisp, slightly tart cooking apples like Granny Smiths. It's a favorite in many countries!

• Australian and New Zealand meat pie
  • Origin: Australia and New Zealand
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A small, hand-sized meat pie usually filled with minced meat and gravy. People often eat it as a quick snack.

• Bakewell tart
  • Origin: United Kingdom (England)
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A tart with a shortcrust pastry shell, a layer of jam, and a sponge-like almond filling. It's often decorated with nuts or icing.

• Banana cream pie
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A creamy pie with sliced bananas mixed into a rich custard. It often has a whipped cream topping and a pastry or graham cracker crust.

• Banoffee pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom (England)
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: An English dessert made with bananas, toffee, and cream. It can have a pastry base or a crust made from crushed digestive biscuits.

• Bedfordshire clanger
  • Origin: United Kingdom (England)
  • Type: Savory and sweet
  • Description: A unique, elongated pie with a savory filling (like meat and veggies) at one end and a sweet filling (like jam or fruit) at the other! It was a popular meal for workers.

• Blackberry pie
  • Origin: Worldwide
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A delicious fruit pie filled with juicy blackberries.

• Blueberry pie
  • Origin: United States (New England)
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A sweet fruit pie where the main ingredient is blueberries. It's especially popular in areas where blueberries grow well.

• Buko pie
  • Origin: Philippines
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A sweet pie from the Philippines, made with young coconuts. It's a very popular treat on the islands.

• Burek
  • Origin: Turkey (Anatolia)
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A pastry made with thin layers of phyllo dough, filled with cheese, meat, potatoes, or other vegetables. It's enjoyed in many parts of the world, especially the Balkans.

• Butter tart
  • Origin: Canada
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A small tart with a filling of butter, sugar, and eggs in a pastry shell. Sometimes it includes raisins, pecans, or walnuts.

• Buttermilk pie
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A traditional, custard-like pie with a filling made from sugar, butter, eggs, buttermilk, and flour.

• Cheesecake
  • Origin: Ancient Greece
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A dessert made with cream cheese and a pastry or crumb base. Cheesecakes come in many different flavors!

• Cherry pie
  • Origin: Worldwide
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A pie baked with a cherry filling. Tart cherries are often used to balance the sweetness.

• Chicken and mushroom pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A pie with a pastry crust filled with small pieces of chicken and sliced mushrooms in a creamy sauce.

• Chiffon pie
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A light and airy pie with a filling made by folding meringue or whipped cream into a fruit curd (like lemon) or pumpkin mixture.

• Cobbler
  • Origin: United Kingdom, United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A dish where a fruit or savory filling is covered with a batter, biscuit, or dumpling topping before being baked.

• Coconut cream pie
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A creamy pie with shredded coconut in a rich custard filling. It's usually topped with whipped cream and toasted coconut.

• Corned beef pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A pie filled with corned beef, onion, and other vegetables like corn or carrots. It can have a pastry crust or a mashed potato topping.

• Custard tart (also called flans pâtissier)
  • Origin: United Kingdom, France
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A baked pastry with a delicious egg custard filling. French versions are often wider and shallower than British ones.

• Derby pie
  • Origin: United States (Kentucky)
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A chocolate and walnut pie with a pastry crust. It often includes pecans, chocolate chips, and sometimes a hint of Kentucky bourbon.

• Egg tart
  • Origin: China (Guangdong)
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A popular baked pastry with a smooth egg custard filling, usually in a cookie or puff pastry crust.

• Empanada
  • Origin: Spain
  • Type: Sweet or savory
  • Description: A stuffed pastry, either baked or fried, with many different fillings like meat, cheese, vegetables, or fruit. They are popular in Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines.

• Fish pie (also called Fisherman's Pie)
  • Origin: United Kingdom
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A comforting dish made with white fish in a creamy sauce, topped with a layer of mashed potato, similar to a cottage pie.

• Flan
  • Origin: Worldwide
  • Type: Sweet or savory
  • Description: An open pastry or sponge cake with a sweet or savory filling. It's a versatile dish enjoyed in many cultures.

• Fried pie
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A small, fried pastry pie usually filled with fruit. They are a popular portable snack.

• Homity pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A traditional British open vegetable pie. It has a pastry crust filled with potatoes, onions, and leeks, topped with cheese.

• Jamaican patty
  • Origin: Jamaica
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A small, baked pastry, often yellow from turmeric, usually filled with seasoned ground beef and sometimes spicy Scotch Bonnet pepper.

• Key lime pie
  • Origin: United States (Florida)
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A tangy pie made with key lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk, all in a delicious crust.

• Lemon meringue pie
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A pie with a shortcrust base, a zesty lemon curd filling, and a fluffy meringue topping.

• Meat pie
  • Origin: Worldwide
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A common dish, especially in the UK and Commonwealth countries, where meat (often beef or lamb) is baked inside a pastry crust.

• Mince pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A small British sweet pie traditionally eaten during Christmas. It's filled with dried fruits, spices, and sometimes suet. Long ago, they actually contained meat!

• Mississippi mud pie
  • Origin: United States (Southern)
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A rich chocolate dessert pie with a gooey chocolate filling and a crumbly chocolate crust. It's often served with ice cream.

• Natchitoches meat pie
  • Origin: United States (Louisiana)
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A crescent-shaped, flaky pastry turnover with a savory meat filling, popular in Louisiana.

• Pastel de nata
  • Origin: Portugal
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A famous Portuguese custard tart made with egg yolk. They are also known as pastél de Belém after their original home.

• Pasty
  • Origin: United Kingdom (England)
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A traditional lunch for Cornish miners. It's a baked pastry filled with meat and vegetables.

• Peach pie
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A sweet pie made with fresh peaches, often spiced with nutmeg or cinnamon. It usually has a lattice top to let steam escape.

• Pecan pie
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A classic American pie made mainly with corn syrup or molasses and pecan nuts in a pie shell.

• Pirog
  • Origin: Russia, Ukraine
  • Type: Savory or sweet
  • Description: A general term for pies and pastries in Eastern-Slavic cooking. Fillings can be sweet (like fruit or cheese) or savory (like meat, fish, or potatoes).

• Pirozhki (small pirogs)
  • Origin: Russia, Ukraine
  • Type: Savory or sweet
  • Description: Small, individual baked or fried buns stuffed with various fillings, similar to dumplings.

• Pork pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A traditional British meat pie with chopped pork and pork jelly sealed inside a hot water crust pastry.

• Pot pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom (England)
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A savory pie often served in individual dishes, usually filled with a creamy sauce, turkey or chicken, carrots, peas, and pearl onions.

• Pumpkin pie
  • Origin: Worldwide
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A popular autumn and winter holiday pie with a pumpkin-based custard filling, spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves.

• Quiche
  • Origin: France
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A savory tart with a pastry base and sides, filled with a mixture of eggs, milk, and various ingredients like cheese, vegetables, or meat.

• Samosa
  • Origin: Indian Subcontinent, Central and Western Asia, North, South and Horn of Africa
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A fried or baked pastry with a savory filling, often spiced potatoes, onions, peas, or meat. It's usually served with chutney.

• Scotch pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom (Scotland)
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A small, double-crust meat pie filled with minced mutton or other meat, very popular at sporting events.

• Shepherd's Pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A comforting dish made with roasted lamb or mutton in a pie dish, topped with a crust of mashed potatoes. If made with beef, it's often called "cottage pie."

• Shoofly pie
  • Origin: United States (Pennsylvania Dutch Country)
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A molasses pie common in Pennsylvania, known for its sticky, sweet bottom layer and crumbly top.

• Spanakopita (also called spinach pie)
  • Origin: Greece
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A delicious Greek pie with a filling of chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions, and eggs, all wrapped in flaky filo pastry.

• Stargazy pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom (England)
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A unique Cornish dish made with baked pilchards (a type of fish), eggs, and potatoes, covered with a pastry crust. The fish heads stick out of the crust, making them look like they're "gazing" at the stars!

• Steak and kidney pie
  • Origin: United Kingdom
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A classic British pie filled with diced beef, diced kidney (from ox, lamb, or pork), fried onion, and a rich brown gravy.

• Strawberry pie
  • Origin: Worldwide
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A sweet pie filled with fresh strawberries, sometimes topped with whipped cream.

• Sweet potato pie
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A large tart with an open top, filled with mashed sweet potatoes, milk, sugar, and eggs, flavored with spices like nutmeg.

• Tourtière
  • Origin: Canada (Quebec)
  • Type: Savory
  • Description: A meat pie from Quebec, usually made with finely diced pork, veal, beef, fish, or wild game. It's a traditional holiday dish.

• Treacle tart
  • Origin: United Kingdom
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A sweet tart with a shortcrust pastry base and a thick, sticky filling of golden syrup, breadcrumbs, and lemon juice.

• Vlaai
  • Origin: Netherlands
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: A Dutch pie or tart with a pastry base and a filling that can be fruit, a crumbly butter and sugar mix, or a cooked rice and custard porridge.

• Whoopie pie
  • Origin: United States
  • Type: Sweet
  • Description: An American baked treat that's like a mix between a cookie, pie, and cake. It has two round pieces of chocolate (or pumpkin/gingerbread) cake with a sweet, creamy filling sandwiched in between.

See also