Sometimes there just isn’t time to bake a pie from scratch during the holidays. Company is coming, your family is traveling, or you’ve cooked so much other stuff that you’re simply not interested in starting another project. At times like this, you can buy a pie or other dessert from a favorite bakery, or you can buy frozen pie and stick it in the oven after dinner – no prep needed. In their most recent issue, Consumer Reports taste-tested two types of frozen pies – Dutch Apple Pie and Key Lime Pie – to find out which brand made the best and which weren’t worth eating.
The Dutch apple pie category included Marie Callender’s, Mrs Smith’s Classic and Sara Lee brands. Marie Callender’s and Mrs Smith’s both topped the Sara Lee pie, which “tasted store bought” and had a slight aftertaste. Marie Callender’s pie, although a bit sweet, seemed to be the best be. The key lime pie category included Edwards, Marie Callender’s and Sara Lee Signature Selections. Again, Sara Lee was the lowest rated with a “lime-flavored filling with a slightly off-taste [and] gritty crust”. Marie Callender’s was again the top-placer, with a zesty lime filling.
I’m still going to make Dutch apple pie and key lime pie from scratch, but Marie Callender’s is clearly the way to go for a frozen pie. And, as another alternative, you will probably do a little better than the frozen pies if you stop in at one of their stores for a fresh pie, too.
Svari
August 3, 2009I don’t know why, but I prefer only cold food. So, it is no so exotic for me 🙂
k.artin
August 5, 2009very nice, thanks for sharing.
metin2 yang
April 13, 2010what’s your name? bmx
maggie.z
May 16, 2010it looks delicious.
michelle
July 3, 2012I really prefer edwards frozen key lime pie, I find ms callenders to be too too sweet- it tastes like artificial sweetener it is so sweet to me, and I am a dessertaholic.
Lou
December 7, 2013All of the Mrs. Smith other pies such as cherry etc, have too thick of a greasy crust and a skimy amount of filling.
Pat cain
June 18, 2018The best key lime pie is from Sara Lee. We were at. A restaurant in Florida and the key lime pie was to die for! I asked the manager if I could have the recipe. She told me all of their pies were baked on site except the key lime that they bought from Sara Lee because it tasted better than what they could make. For a long time I could not buy it in the stores because they sold only to restaurants. Now you can find it in some grocery stores.it is terrific!