In search of LA's best pumpkin pie

Spoonfed

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We got another contender! Dulce Cafe is offering a wonderful pie that if you love the flavor of actual pumpkin!

The spice is there but it’s not all that is there. Instead it’s a very firm pie with the earthy and smooth taste of roasted pumpkin. The crust is very loose but not mooshy or stale. It made for good fork eating while some pies who use a similar crust are often too hard which makes it seem like you are eating cookie and then pie filling! The only thing off with the pie is that is decorated with a spiced buttercream. It’s good but I think the best accompaniment to Pumpkin pie is whipped cream.

They sell it by the pie and by the slice at their locations

I got my slice at USC. Because it was so firm, it traveled really well! I think Ugo is still my favorite but since I am at the village often… I totally plan a repurchase!

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Dat cup though

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And one to skip…

The Pumpkin Pie from Trader Joe’s in the black box. It looks great in the box… especially the crust!!! But the crust is oddly sweet! No butter flavor. The pie itself is good texture for a store pie but oddly spiced. A little too much Nutmeg… for Supermarket… Costco is still the winner… it’s hillariously huge but it’s firm enough to be sliced into skinny wedges with enough structural intrgrity it will still look nicely on a plate with Whipped Cream…

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@Dommy thank you for turning us onto Dulce’s pie. Their website strangely only list 2 locations but I saw on Instagram the have 4: Little Tokyo / rowDTLA / USC Village / Vernon. We will definitely head their for a slice. Stopping by Fiona on the way maybe.

That slice! It looks like a super sturdy piece of NYC cheesecake.

It does and has HEFT! But it’s all smooth Pumpkin goodness! So the flavors shine through instead of being muddled by the Cream Cheese… Check out the video!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqLiCwrj51H/

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Another surprising pumpkin pie of note…

My brother was in charge of the desserts for thanksgiving. Many in the fam don’t like Pumpkin Pie so we always get a cake of some sort. He lives near Chinatown and decided to pick up a family favorite… Phoenix Bakery’s Cake…

As he walked in the day before Thanksgiving, he was immediately told what was remaining… x size cakes and y flavored pies… pies… he’s never had a Phoenix Pie Before so he grabbed a Pumpkin…

He brought it home and everyone was ooh and ahhing over the cake… but I was astounded by the pie! And if you like Phoenix Bakery for their mooncakes you will know why.

The crust. It was so flakey and with a wonderful yield. Even a day after and a night in the fridge… whereas even buttery crust might falter… this still had all its wonderful structure and tasted so fresh but yet nice and cool…

The filling was well set and cut cleanly. Looked Great on a plate. The flavor was zippy with no one note overpowering and a good pumpkin flavor. It was definitely spice forward as even with a good dollop of whipped cream the flavors came thru.

This was not the prettiest pie. The crust is a bit pale and since it’s flakey it can crumble a bit with manhandling. It’s not buttery AT ALL. But that is okay for me who only cares about the filling and crust and of course the whipped cream. Buttery crust on a pumpkin pie isn’t my ideal anyway… It’s also around 10 dollars so it’s an excellent pie especially for the price.

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It was Small Business Saturday and for a while now I’ve been wanting to check out the Semolina Pasta storefront in Pasadena. We went and got their new Lasagna Noodles along with a few provisions. The shop is very small but it carries some good items… We also capitalized on the visit by going over to Lincoln, which is essentially nextdoor…

They had a slice available of their Pumpkin Pie and since it hasn’t been featured here yet, I decided to give it a try.

As you can see… the crust was rather hefty. It was very flakey, good taste, but it was one of those that just didn’t marry itself to the pie. A touch overly crisp.

The filling was obviously from fresh pumpkin. Very vegetal, the spicing light. And rhe set was a touch soft for my liking… Not a bad pie… but not the best thing in their case for sure… Nice try.

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Wowza - that filling looks great!

We got slices of pie as a gift (leftovers from a really kind neighbor.) It was a bought pie, don’t know the bakery, but the filling was tough! The texture of the Phoenix bakery one looks excellent. And, fab price.

I too give a shout out to the costco pie. Not fancy but surprisingly good. And for us this year? We baked the sherry pumpkin custard from a Jane Brody cookbook (an old favorite) and - really enjoyed it. Out of sherry so, I substituted bourbon. Nicely spiced, rich and delicate, mmmmmm. Great recipe.

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My friend saw my instagram post and headed down there today! She was happy to report… they sell the pie for $7 (I guestimated because my Brother wasn’t sure but told me his total bill) and they DO sell it by the slice… $1.50, served with a dollop of their whipped cream… A steal for any handmade dessert in this town… let alone PIE!

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Holy cow. That is a terrific and tasty deal!

Plus I love phoenix bakery (and their whipped cream) so how wonderful to have an extra excuse to go! :yum:

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Mine as well get a strawberry cake too! And those almond cookies too.

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We are back! Happy National Pumpkin Pie Day!

It is Year 4 of our Pumpkin Pie Quest. My son (now 17) does the reviews and I do the photographs, of course we both eat all the pies.

Pies are ranked on a scale of 0-10 (with 10 being the best). We only gave one pie ever a 0 and that was an Erewhon Vegan Pumpkin Pie that inexplicably contained no pumpkin whatsoever. We really love pumpkin pie - all types.

These are our favorite pumpkin pies over the last few years:
Atticus Creamery and Pies, Big Sugar Bakeshop, Bouchon Bakery (LA location now closed), Cafe Dulce, Cassell’s, Du-Par’s, Erewhon (their organic deep dish with real pumpkin), Filling Station, Fishing with Dynamite, Friends and Family, Gjusta, Hof’s Hut, Huckleberry, Jongewaard’s Bake N Broil, Knowrealitypie, M Street Kitchen, Porto’s, Republique, Saints and Sinners, Sweet Butter Bakeshop, Top Tier Treats, Ugo, Urth Caffe, Winston Pies.

Our goal is try every pumpkin pie in LA County. We know new places pop-up, recipes/varieties change (all hail the crazy varieties that Knowrealitypie conjures up) and places close (RIP Fiona’s, we never got to try your pie).

We would love your tips and pumpkin pie spottings. We will share photos and reviews here and on our forthcoming PPQ Instagram.

Thank you. Yours in pumpkin pie

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The newly opened Sibling Rival (from the Sunday in Brooklyn team) has a pumpkin pie to order:

“$42 Pumpkin, Pepita Streusal, Whipped Creme Fraiche, Whole Wheat Crust”

https://www.siblingrivaldtla.com/order/

Pre-order 2-3 days in advance:

I haven’t tried their pies but will look into it soon.

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Bumping this one up in case folks are looking for their desserts. I’m not making dessert this year.

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Me either! Related to this thread - the Kombucha pumpkin pie at Fat + Flour is sold out for Thanksgiving purchase.

Not related - the apple pie was available and I purchased. I’ll report back.

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Getting a turkey at Bristol Farms so trying this:

PUMPKIN CRUMB PIE

Serves 8-10 guests.

This delicious spin on traditional pumpkin pie is topped with homemade cream cheese frosting and toasted pecans.

(32 oz)

$ 27.99/ea.

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Bakers and Baristas has a pumpkin pie.

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Go Cakes also has one. Love their cream puffs.

https://go-cakes-107567.square.site/

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