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38 pies and tarts that end a meal with joy

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A perfect pie on the dinner table ends a meal on a cheery note and sends us off into the night with not just the satisfaction of endurance, but with joy.

Who doesn’t want to make a spectacular pie? Or a tart, or a lovely mini, double-crust pie or a hand pie that doesn’t require a plate? The California Cookbook, the L.A. Times’ searchable database of more than 650 delicious recipes, has 38 tested pie recipes that will thrill your family and friends.

Thanksgiving is, of course, a day of tradition so we have five pumpkin pie and four pecan pie recipes.

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Try Maury Rubin’s pumpkin pie for a brilliant approach to crust. “You don’t have to worry about overworking the dough because even if you knead it and slap it and press into it to patch up some torn spots, it turns out great,” wrote Deputy Food Editor Betty Hallock.

California Cookbook: Delicious recipes from The Times Test Kitchen

Bourbon seems to be the booze of choise for pies. We have a pumpkin pie with a bacon (!) and bourbon crust and a bourbon chocolate pie recipe that ran in 2003, just before the Kentucky Derby.

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It is the season of Meyer lemons and this lemon shaker pie will change everything. It’s really a double-crust tart -- you make it in a 9-inch tart pan -- and that crust, which takes minutes in the food processor, turns out so flaky you might think it’s puff pastry. The lemons are sliced paper thin; they go in rind and all (just grab the seeds).

Get your hands on a few large grapefruit to make a tart with grapefruit curd and Campari. Food Editor Russ Parsons described this curd as “on the buttery side but with still a pucker and fruit character.”

The apple custard crumb pie from Gjelina Take Away pastry chef Nicole Rucker calls for dried apples, which, gloriously, means you don’t have to peel, core and slice.

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There’s more. So much more. The site will ask you to register, which only requires you to drop in an email address. Then be on your way to the day that will end well because it will end with a perfect pie.

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