The quest for pumpkin pie

Erika Kreider

Candy corn and colorful leaves crunching underneath your feet are staples of fall, but one of the best traditional dishes is pumpkin pie. The smell of a newly-baked dark-orange pumpkin pie, complete with fluffy whipped cream on top and the crust crumbling in your mouth is an irresistible fall treat.

Features editor Andrew Hampp, ALL editor Kimberly Dick and myself went to great lengths to test pies and other pumpkin sweets in the area to bring you the best pumpkin treat to complete your fall.

Giant Eagle pumpkin pie, $6.49. Whipped cream, $2.89.

Andrew: Crust tastes like cardboard. Pie itself is really sweet but cold and jiggly.

Erika: I like the texture of the pie. The pumpkin taste is really good.

Kimberly: Brittle, cold crust. Good texture. I like the flavor, but very dry crust.

Acme pumpkin pie, $5.99.

Andrew: Crust is way better! The pie has a more brown sugary yet, sweet tang to it.

Erika: Way better crust. The pumpkin taste is great. It’s not too strong, and not bland. I love it!

Kimberly: Burnt crust, but tasted great.

Pumpkin roll from Vincents Bakery, located at 2038 Bailey Road, Cuyahoga Falls, $4.25.

Andrew: Eww. I hate cream cheese, and this roll does not make me appreciate it any more.

Erika: Very, very sweet. I like the pumpkin part, but the whole thing is very dense.

Kimberly: So sweet with the gooey insides. I love the way the pumpkin mixes with the creamy filling.

Pumpkin Donuts from Jubilee Donuts located at 2686 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls, $. 70 each.

Andrew: Kind of dry, and not pumpkin-y. I might as well have eaten a regular donut.

Erika: Not very pumpkin-y. Sugar touch is good though.

Kimberly: Not fond of the texture. Strange to eat a pumpkin donut, but the sugar is good.

Glazed pumpkin donut

Andrew: Now that’s what I call pumpkin!

Erika: This is so soft and good. I want more.

Kimberly: Soft. Great texture. Glaze makes it so good.

Cranberry pumpkin bread, $1.23 from Prentice.

Andrew: It’s different. It has a cornbread texture with a pumpkin, cranberry flavor. It’s like fall in a piece of bread.

Erika: The chunks of cranberries freak me out. It tastes soapy to me for some reason.

Kimberly: Feels heavy in my mouth. Not what I would eat again.

Pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top from Baker’s Square, $9.79.

Andrew: The pie itself is okay, but once the whipped cream kicks in, it’s amazing. It’s as if the pie is over compensating for something – still it’s the best of the bunch.

Erika: It looks really pretty. The pumpkin taste is weird to me until the whipped cream kicks in, then it’s good.

Kimberly: Good texture and presentation. Amazing flavor.

Contact ALL reporter Erika Kreider at [email protected].