Pie vs. Tart

Main Difference

The main difference between Pie and Tart is that the Pie is a baked dish and Tart is a baked dessert dish, a filled pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry.

• Pie

  A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients.

  Pies are defined by their crusts. A filled pie (also single-crust or bottom-crust), has pastry lining the baking dish, and the filling is placed on top of the pastry but left open. A top-crust pie has the filling in the bottom of the dish and is covered with a pastry or other covering before baking. A two-crust pie has the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell. Shortcrust pastry is a typical kind of pastry used for pie crusts, but many things can be used, including baking powder biscuits, mashed potatoes, and crumbs.

  Pies can be a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to ones designed for multiple servings.

• Tart

  A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with custard. Tartlet refers to a miniature tart; an example would be egg tarts. The categories of ‘tart’, ‘flan’, ‘quiche’, and ‘pie’ overlap, with no sharp distinctions.