First define ‘pie’ vs ‘tart’. What’s the difference?

Floral, to me (in the USA), a tart has short straight sides and a filling. A pie has tapered sides, possibly a little deeper than a tart, and a filling. Pies can have crusts on top, I don't think tarts have a top crust. Not sure about what terms our Canadian friends use. Does that clarify?

Also I'd have posted to Cooking but it did not appear on my list.

In my head a 'tart' is smaller/individual serving for everyone, probably more of a turn over? But to your question how would they pan affect how it tastes? What makes the difference is crust/no crust and the "filling".

The following link might help more than my own words. You can often make a tart in a pie form, or vice versa. Some adjustments will be needed due to the type of pan, but the taste result can be pretty much the same. I don't think this link mentions that crusts can also be made from cookie crumbs or shortbread dough. The link includes galettes (or crostata for Italian) that I tend to make often.

https://www.thekitchn.com/pie-vs-tart-whats-the-differen-68710

The name is more or less irrelevant. The question is whether or not you want to remove your item from the pan. Would your slanted sided article stand up to being removed from the pan and not collapse? Tarts are typically removed from the pan. The sides are typically straight and not very tall (these days). We will not go into historical tarts. Springforms which have a system for making the sides longer to loosen them can be used for all sorts of cakes and things. The usual tart pan has a bottom that is removed by simply pushing up leaving the sides behind and the item seated on the bottom part. The are pie pans that have the same removable system as actual tart pans.

Tarts are more likely to end up sitting in your lap. Whereas pies are seen more often on tables.

Arcy, in bakeries I often see fabulous small 'tarts' and I"m familiar with 'hand pies'. I'm thinking more of a single baked dessert of 6 to 8 servings.

Chloebud, your link give a good definition of pie vs tart (and vs gallette) -- thanks!

Patriciae, good point about pies collapsing if removed from their pan.

Some flavors seem to work either form: lemon pie, lemon tart, can be pretty much the same filling and even the same crust. But an apple pie gives seem entirely different than an apple tart, even aside from the top crust. Hmmmm....

edited to add: Embothrium, LOL! (floral_uk, is that definition of 'tart' also used in your area?)

First of all, I would never make an "apple pie" in a tart pan, as I make apple pie with a top crust. However, you can make an apple tart in a tart pan, but it will not be the same as apple pie. I've made both, and they are different - hence the different names. If you are using a tart pan, make an apple tart - not an apple pie. However, you could conceivably make an apple tart in a pie pan, but of course it should not fill the pan.

Tart crusts tend to be much more crumbly than pie crusts, and so if you made the Bakewell tart in a pie pan, the crust would likely crumble as you remove it - especially the first piece. It would not be a disaster, but it would not be as pretty. A typical lime pie is really very similar to a tart, and it could be made in either pan.

Cherry pie would be very messy if made in a tart pan, from my experience. I make cherry tarts in a tart pan and cherry pie in a pie pan. Any kind of berry pie that does not have something like a lemon curd under the berries should not be made in a tart pan, due to the danger of the filling running.

Embothrium beat me to it. I was going to say - Not interchangeable. Calling a female a cutie pie is different than calling one a tart.

Having a kitchen store that sells all kinds of things and having purchased them along with having many cookbooks of all ages some of the comments above seriously have me rolling. Have you never seen or made a pecan pie? It does not have a top crust and can be any size from tiny to 12 inches, if you have an older pan. Do you call a quiche a pie or a tart? It can be baked in a straight, fluted, angled, or spring form pan in various sizes all of which can have a pastry of some sort from crumbled cookies to paste lining it and still be called a pie. You seldom see a sweet quiche but they have been made in the past. It is all what you are accustom to calling things. To add to the thought is it a plate, tin, or pan.

I will gladly be your guinea pig and eat both and tell you which is best! Just drop in the mail to me!

A bakewell tart is pretty rich I think so a shallow pan suits it better. An american apple pie wants more apples than will fit neatly in a tart pan.

What Lars says makes perfect sense (What Elmer and kathyg said made me laugh!) Maifleur, I've made enough pecan pies to know what you mean -- they are so versatile in size and shape, they'll hold firm any way you bake them.

Because I'm not baking for 'show', I'll try my second Bakewell Tart in the pie pan. Will the firmness of the almond cream filling be strong enough to decant the pie and have it hold a nice shape? Will the shortness of the crust crumble? Will there be enough filling around the edge of the pie to make it luscious in every bite (thinking of store bought pumpkin pies, where the filling is good but the crust is "meh" so why bother eating the crust.) Experiments, experiments :-)

Andre's a swiss pastry shop here places apple slices in a pinwheel into a 3 1/2 inch tart shell. Baked it until apples are soft then cover with a spiced glaze. The previous generation chopped the apple into chunks and prepared similarly. It was a midweek thing which with their hours I seldom tasted it. More common is an open tart made of cherries in glaze.

Well, give me pies, tarts, galettes...love making them and eating them.

lisaam, (sorry I missed your reply earlier), I found the almond cream/frangipane to be totally delicious, but more light-textured than rich -- I hope I did it right!

chloebud, I'm with you. I grew up eating dessert after every evening meal and never want to change that habit :-)

"I grew up eating dessert after every evening meal"

That's interesting. I didn't and still don't. I like dessert items but I have them rarely, not even once a month. I'd rather spend my calorie budget at dinner on a few nice glasses of wine and sometimes if there's enough wine remaining, some cheese afterwards.

Just to send people searching there are dozens of paste recipes in most cookbooks because some taste better with certain fillings or are stronger. Some water pastes are actually only made to hold the filling, think meat pies, and are seldom eaten. If you visit YouTube look at Townsends, Tasting History with Max Miller and episodes on English Heritage for Mrs. Crocombe at Audley End House for some uses of various pastes.

I grew up having a "sweet" after dinner. Often it was just some type of fruit. Only occasionally was it pudding, butterscotch or chocolate. What most people call dessert was special holiday food.

Elmer, you can have my wine and I'll have your dessert -- let's switch glasses and plates when no one is looking! :-)

Maifleur, do you mean "paste" as a type what we'd call pastry dough now? I'll check out those links.

For dessert, it was most often a cookie, sometimes cake, sometimes ice cream. I would have felt cheated if given a piece of fruit or cheese. Quite often now, we delay dessert until up in the evening instead of immediately after dinner.

Nickel paste is what the pastry dough is actually called especially before it is shaped.

Thanks Maifleur -- one of those technicalities that I never knew!