Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m American and if I eat most American cakes, cookies, or pies, I feel like my teeth are going to rot out of my mouth. I can’t eat more than one or two bites.

I might have to try British sweets. They sound much better to me.

Try a Korean bakery, like Shilla. Much less sweet!

Np. I’ve been baking recipes from The New Sugar & Spice, a Sri Lankan-inspired cookbook. The desserts are naturally less sweet, and my family really enjoys them.

I find this funny, as I just attempted the green pistachio cake from this season’s cake technical challenge. It was absolutely amazing. But it was really, really sweet! Almost like eating candy. There were three thin sponge layers, and a rather boozey butter cream. But it was also draped in rolled fondant and then covered in poured fondant!

Anonymous wrote:I’m American and if I eat most American cakes, cookies, or pies, I feel like my teeth are going to rot out of my mouth. I can’t eat more than one or two bites.

I might have to try British sweets. They sound much better to me.

Try a Korean bakery, like Shilla. Much less sweet!

OP again—yes! I think it does come down a a different definition of pie. Many of the contestants’ bakes were items I do not consider pie at all. Most were shallow with crimped edges, like what I identify as tarts, and none had a top crust. They were also made with a pastry dough that had sugar in it versus the non-sweetened crust I associate with sweet-filling pie. I’m not trying to have a debate about whose pies are better; I was just surprised to learn that Brits don’t like sweet pies as my experience living there was of very sweet desserts and baked goods.

I like tart apple pie the best.

Anonymous wrote:Pies in UK generally refer to savory meat pies, as in "pot pie." Most fruit pies are called tarts and often do not have a top crust. The exception are mince pies.
Pies and tarts are often served with a hot sweet custard sauce poured over. Yum!

This.

The UK is not known for less sugary desserts/drinks/sweets than the US. The difference is in the definition of pie.

It is like comparing boots or jumpers in UK/US. Very different things.

Pies in UK generally refer to savory meat pies, as in "pot pie." Most fruit pies are called tarts and often do not have a top crust. The exception are mince pies.
Pies and tarts are often served with a hot sweet custard sauce poured over. Yum!

Anonymous wrote:First off all.... British deserts should not be held to any "higher" standard! What hypocrisy. As for overall diet, for majority of the population it might e worse than for majority of Americans. Apart from Indian recipes, they haven very few tasty dishes in a first place! So, while I agree that American pies and deserts in general are very sweet compared to European deserts(I grew up on Viennese cookies and tortes), I would not think British deserts are all that tasty.

In the first place, it's "desserts" and not desert. A desert is a dry sandy region.

Britain has a wonderful baking and dessert heritage. It's certainly perhaps not as sophisticated as the continental traditions of tortes but that may be part of its charm. It's a very fruit oriented tradition, with plenty of fruit pies and fruity cakes and fruit based desserts. And I like it for that. And, we must also admit, that a lot of the continental desserts are fairly bland. It's whipped cream on mousse with a thin layer of sponge stuck somewhere in it. That's your typical torte And if you're from Germanic / Northern Europe you are hardly in the position to criticize Britain for not having tasty dishes because if any region has a culinary heritage that's even blander than Britain, it's the Germans and Scandinavians. Overcooked, under seasoned meats with bland potatoes and hardly any vegetables.

Did I resort to some stereotyping here? Certainly. But so did you. I love the tortes of the great cafes of Vienna and the pastries of France, but I also love the fruit cakes and trifles and custards and tarts of Britain. They're all wonderful.

First off all.... British deserts should not be held to any "higher" standard! What hypocrisy. As for overall diet, for majority of the population it might e worse than for majority of Americans. Apart from Indian recipes, they haven very few tasty dishes in a first place! So, while I agree that American pies and deserts in general are very sweet compared to European deserts(I grew up on Viennese cookies and tortes), I would not think British deserts are all that tasty.

I don't know if it's a sweet vs. non-sweet difference, but British desserts typically have more diverse flavor profiles. It's "sweet plus" -- citrus or spice or fruit or whatever.

The sweetness issue between the US and UK has always been a bit peculiar, even hypocritical to me.

The Brits do love their sweets. They eat an insane amount of candy. I see many more people eating candy in the UK than in the US. And they have treacle and golden syrup aplenty. And they put royal icing on a lot of their baked goods and royal icing is pretty damn sweet.

I think the difference boils down to that the British restrain their intense sweetness for specific things so they know what they're getting, while other baked goods and desserts are not going to be as sweet as the American counterparts. Pies is a perfect example. The British fruit pies will have less sugar and be more tart than the American equivalent. Their cakes are not as sweet (although the icings can still be pretty sweet, especially if they use a royal icing glaze). The British tend to have a lot more custardy desserts and when they talk about making pudding/dessert it almost always involves custard to some degree. They even serve custard alongside pies. So when they think of sweet flavors, the sweetness of custard is what they're expecting. But when they think of candy, trust me, they're eating something as sugary sweet as any American candy.

I’m American and if I eat most American cakes, cookies, or pies, I feel like my teeth are going to rot out of my mouth. I can’t eat more than one or two bites.

I might have to try British sweets. They sound much better to me.

I watched that episode and was a little surprised at how much they played up that angle. I think in the end Brits and Americans both like sweet things but like them in different things so if you have something unexpectedly sweet it seems sweeter.

American taste buds are regularly overloaded with sugar. It’s in everything. If you step away from it for a while, it can be shocking to have it again. Europeans eat sweets, but typically in smaller quantities, and without the straight sugar blast you get here. I stopped drinking soda and sweet drinks years ago, and am blown away sometimes when I’m accidentally served sweet tea, for example. It’s like eating a sugar cube - yuk!

I like sweet potato pie and that's about it. I prefer cobblers.

And the Brits eat mince pie, scones and fruitcakes, those people can't be trusted

I’m watching a pie episode of Great British Bake-off and the showstopper challenge is American pies. The judges and many of the contestants comment that American pies are disgustingly sweet and “have a lot going on.” The contestants made a key lime, a banana toffee, a pecan pie with chocolate ganache on top (lol), a pumpkin peanut butter (uh?), and various other pumpkin pies. Anyway, the positive comments from the judges included “not too sweet” and “that’s closer to a British pie”.

I’m American but lived in England for a couple years as a young woman. I remember looking for corn syrup to make a pecan pie one year and couldn’t find it, though there are plenty of other liquid sugars available in English stores. I know Brits are more likely to eat savory pies than we are, but don’t they like sweet pies for dessert?

Also, since we’re in the middle of pie season, what are your favorite pies?