As far as oven temperature, stick to 350°F—anything higher will make the custard to puff up like a soufflé and fall upon cooling. Another thing that can make your pumpkin pie sink? Cooling it too quickly. Let the pie cool gradually in a warm place in your kitchen, and never ever refrigerate your pie until it’s completely cooled—the change is too drastic.
My pecan pie puffs and then falls. Pecan pie has a somewhat similar set of issues—the filling can crack, the bottom can be under-baked, the filling can seep under the crust, and the nuts can be soggy. Like the pumpkin pie, the filling will crack if the pie is over-baked or cools too quickly. But unlike pumpkin pie which has pumpkin puree to give it structure, pecan pie filling is mostly just sugar, corn syrup and eggs, so the tendency to soufflé and fall is even greater. To test for doneness, look for a filling that's puffed—it should jiggle just slightly when you gently shake it.
My pecan pie always has soggy nuts. So I am sad. Dry your tears. All you need to do this time around is toast the pecans for a few minutes before folding them into the filling. This not only keeps them crisp, it intensifies their flavor.
I can never tell when my apple pie is done, so it always turns out under/overbaked. Apple pie differs from the others in that it’s the only one with a double crust and a hidden filling, which can make guesswork of “doneness”. Underdone, and the apples are crunchy and the liquid is runny—the thickener doesn’t have the chance to do its magic. Overdone, and the boiling juices break the crust and ooze all over the bottom of your oven, making an awful smoky mess. An apple pie is done when the top and bottom crusts are uniformly golden (remember that glass pie plate—it’s more important now than ever) and the juices bubble up slowly and thickly through the vent holes.
My apple pie is always runny. Most apple pies call for some kind of thickener, from flour to cornstarch to tapioca—the challenge is making sure all that thickener is evenly dispersed throughout the filling so it thickens up nice. To make sure, always combine the thickener, sugar, and any other dry ingredients together before tossing them with the apples. One more thing: As apple pie cools, its juices thicken up. That takes a surprisingly long time—at least 1 1/2 hours. I like test whether it's ready to slice by holding the pie plate in the palm of my hand. If I can hold it comfortably for 30 seconds, it’s cool enough to cut into.
What's up with all the pie gap? Even the best apple pies can sometimes fall victim to the dreaded "pie gap": The empty space that can form between the top crust of an apple pie and its filling when it bakes at higher temperatures. Some people like the gap, believing that it makes the top crust less soggy, while others detest it, since they feel they're missing out on more apples in their pie. If you "mind the gap," make sure your apples are packed tightly and evenly into your crust before topping it, and cut back the heat in your favorite recipe to 375°F, which allows the top crust to melt a bit onto the apples as they cook. At least everyone can agree on vanilla ice cream.
