15 Unique Garnishes To Top Your Pie With For Bakery-Worthy Looks

I am a self-proclaimed pie lover — and I'm not afraid to admit it. Not only are pies a crowd pleaser in virtually every way, but they're also extremely easy to customize based on the flavor profile you're after or the ingredients you have on hand. Of course, aside from mastering the perfect pie crust, balancing your filling's flavors, and baking your pie, the real challenge comes with slicing and serving it to your guests. After all, if you've gone through the work to make the perfect pie, you don't want to let your guard down and fumble that last step.

The easiest way to add a refined finesse to your pie — and make it look bakery-worthy in the process — is to select an appropriate garnish to top your dessert with. While many people simply resort to a can of whipped cream or cheap vanilla ice cream in the back of their freezer, I'm of the mindset that a pie garnish deserves a little more love in this department.

As a home baker, I've experimented with numerous new and fun ways to use toppings to elevate the look of my pies, all while keeping the flavors cohesive and intentional. Here are some unique and rather simple garnishes that you play with to give your pie a bakery-worthy edge.

Fruit compote is a simple, yet effective, pie topping. While it might seem silly to add extra fruit atop an already fruit-filled dessert, those pies beyond the classic fruit pie-umbrella are ideal for pairing with it. This includes lemon meringue and cheesecake (which, for all intensive purposes, should be considered a pie). Fruit compote has sweet and floral notes that will cut through the soft, fluffy meringue, complementing the sharpness of the lemon layer quite well. Cheesecake, meanwhile, can benefit from the fruitiness to cut through the rich filling.

Another potential application could be a sugar pie (like a chess pie) as a bit of contrast from the overwhelmingly sweet notes. Compote is easy to make at home, too, and can be customized with whatever fruit — fresh or frozen — you have available. You can make a simple strawberry compote by cooking down strawberries, lemon juice, and sugar until the mixture is thick and scoop-able. Or you could also utilize blueberries, blackberries, cherries, cranberries, or pears for this pie topping, and save the leftovers for your next plate of waffles or yogurt bowl.

It may seem silly to top an already sweet pie with an extra layer of maple syrup. But maple syrup isn't just sweet; it also has mild oaky and vanilla notes that can really uplift the profile of your pie.

My personal favorite type of pie to drizzle maple syrup on — and emphasis on drizzle here, as you don't want a sopping wet crust — is an apple pie or galette. The apples will soak up the syrup like a sponge, with that slight oak-like profile at the forefront of every single bite. Pecans would also be in good company with maple syrup, though a pie made with this nut tends to lean fairly sweet already, so an extra dose of sugar has the potential to take it over the edge.

You can add a bit of syrup directly into a pie, as well, or you may want to consider combining it with another garnish. You can add it to a whipped cream, or some another sauce to help temper its sweetness. 

Balsamic is often reserved for the savory side of things. However, its use in sweeter recipes has exploded in recent years. Strawberry rhubarb (or just plain strawberry) pie is one place where balsamic can be used to both impart flavor and contrast the sharpness of the fruit. While tangy is its main flavor, this vinegar still has an underlying sweetness that will help concentrate and intensify the sugary notes in your filling.

Since you don't want to pour straight balsamic vinegar on your pie, it's better to cook down the vinegar first and make a reduction out of it. You can reduce balsamic vinegar and sugar in a pan, cooking it for about 15 minutes until it's thickened. You can also add other ingredients to your balsamic reduction, like maple syrup or honey, to turn up the sweeter notes. The mixture will start to thicken as it cools down, as well, so make sure you pour it over your pie soon after making it.

The name "crème anglaise" may give you the impression that it's a tricky sauce to master. Realistically, though, it's one you'll want to add to your culinary toolkit sooner rather than later. This rich custard is made by cooking down egg yolks with heavy cream, sugar, and a little vanilla. It's super rich and brimming with those vanilla notes, though it has a neutral profile that's easy to pair with pies.

Apple pie is a classic one, as the cream and eggs will impart a rich, luscious mouthfeel to the dessert. Pumpkin pie, which is already creamy and rich, is also a great option for pairing, too. The squashy sweetness of the filling is an excellent match for the vanilla notes in the custard. 

If you don't want to work too hard, you can always take a tip out of Ina Garten's playbook and melt down some vanilla ice cream. It will offer the same consistency as crème anglaise, just without the cooking and extra legwork required. 

Caramel sauce is a versatile topping for numerous desserts, including cakes, ice cream, and, of course, pie. The sauce is sticky and rich, though it imparts beautiful brown sugar and buttery notes that will accentuate the flavors already in your pie. Like other sugary garnishes on this list, you'll want to add caramel to your pie with care, as adding too much may shift its balance out of whack. A light drizzle should suffice, allowing the topping (and crust underneath it) to shine.

Caramel sauce works well with some fruit pie types, including apple pie. If you're not afraid of all things sweet, I'd recommend adding a little bit to your pecan pie to highlight the nutty notes. You can also experiment with English treats if you want and try a banoffee pie — a portmanteau of a dessert that combines bananas and toffee with a whipped cream topping. A caramel sauce will bring out the flavor of the toffee and work cohesively with the other components of this English classic.

The phrase "pie topping" is vague for a reason. While you can always opt for scoops of vanilla ice cream and puffs of pillowy whipped cream, you may want to start by assessing the top of your pie before adding anything. After all, a simple crumble — made with ingredients like butter, flour, and sugar — can offer a textural boost to your pie, and help shield your fruit from drying out too fast in the oven.

Personally, I'd rather have a pie with a crumb topping than one with a lattice or double crust. Of course, this topping can be used for other types of fruit pies, too, including strawberry, blueberry, and mixed berry pie. The one place where it really doesn't work is with custard pies, since you don't want anything to distract from (or disrupt) the setting of that custard layer.

There are many ways to personalize your crumb topping, as well, by including oatmeal, spices, or nuts. The latter is the one I'd say requires the most amount of caution, as the high fat content of nuts may cause them to burn faster than the crumble around it can cook. 

Garnishes don't have to be heavy or overwhelming, nor should they feel like a distraction from the dessert underneath. Enter, chocolate shavings. Chocolate shavings are designed to be a simple, elegant, yet tasty garnish that you don't have to think too much about. You can add them to your cream pie (including a basic chocolate cream pie), or as a simple touch on top of one of my personal favorites, peanut butter pie.

Since chocolate has a relatively bold flavor, you'll want to stick to flavors that can work with it, rather than against it. Think coffee, brown sugar, mint, and the like. I can say pumpkin and pecan are two pies that can really benefit from chocolate, as well, but you may want to tie in some other element of chocolate — like into the crust or the filling itself — to really tie the flavors together.

Making chocolate shavings is also easier than you may think: Simply take a vegetable peeler to a bar of chocolate. Hardened chocolate will give you small flecks, while softened chocolate will give you a whirly shape.

The last thing you probably want to do when you're making a pie is to make another component yourself. But when it comes to whipped cream, it really does pay off to make it from scratch. You can infuse it with so many different flavors and ingredients, and it comes together in a matter of minutes. Once you understand the basic process of combining the whipping cream with sugar, then you can start playing with add-ons for this pie topping.

For one, you may want to try a honey whipped cream, which would be a great pairing for a floral pie filling such as strawberry, blueberry, or apple. Extracts, like almond, vanilla, and even maple, can be used to better tie together your whipped garnish and your pie, too.

You can also give your whipped cream a boozy twist by adding a small amount of your preferred spirit, including bourbon, rum, Irish cream, or Kahlúa. Of course, the exact spirit you use really depends on the pie. Bourbon is an excellent option for apple pie, while Kahlúa would be in good company with a tiramisu pie.

Mint is a beautiful and classic pie garnish for a reason. While many people might believe the flavor of mint is oppressive and strong — as in a peppermint candy — the actual flavor of fresh mint is beautifully soft, floral, and cooling. I like to use it as a garnish for especially flavorful and heavy pies, including anything in the chocolate family.

A little sprinkle of mint atop a slice of chocolate cream pie, for example, will offer a cooling sensation that distracts from the heaviness of the filling. I also like to pair it with lemon and blueberry, as well, because I think these two fillings really bring out the herbaceousness of the herb and work in remarkable harmony together. 

The flavor of the mint can still be overpowering or overwhelming for some, though. If you want to temper some of that sharp and almost peppery flavor, you may want to consider candying the mint leaves in a little sugar to add some sweetness.

Coconut-anything has the potential to be overwhelming. So you have to be careful with how you use it in a recipe if you don't want coconut to become the dominant flavor profile. I'm generally coconut-averse, but I find myself reaching for toasted coconut as a pie garnish fairly frequently. It has a nutty, buttery, and almost smoky undertone, making it a beautiful ingredient — as long as you use it in small doses.

The obvious pairing here is coconut cream pie, but it's far from the only option that you could make. For one, toasted coconut can hold its own against a dark chocolate filling, like in a French silk pie. When you get a mouthful of coconut and high-quality chocolate, it's not something that's easily beat. I would also venture to try it with tropical and citrusy flavors, including a pineapple meringue pie (yes, it is a thing) or a lemon meringue pie.

Almond isn't a flavor that comes up very often in pies, but it really should. The subtle nuttiness and high fat content makes it a pleasant addition from both a flavor and textural standpoint. You can incorporate almonds into your pie crust or add the extract as a flavoring in your filling. Or you can also heed my advice and use it as a simple and dainty — yet still flavorful — garnish.

You'll want to use slivered almonds for this hack, as you want just enough without making it an overwhelming part of the bite. You can add a light sprinkle of the nut to the top of a cherry or apple pie to complement its flavor. To incorporate extra crispness, try adding a sprinkle to the top of your filling and baking it like it's a crumble layer. You'll get a subtle crunch, tons of flavor, and a beautiful pie to serve at your next gathering.

Candied citrus is something best served in small doses. While you can always just zest an orange or lemon atop your pie, opting to candy the whole peel will give you a bakery-worthy slice that also imparts some sweetness (courtesy of the sugar).

To make candy fruit peels, you'll want to boil it in water first to remove some of the bitterness from the peels. Next, submerge it and let it simmer in your sugar syrup, before letting it dry for an entire day. While it's a bit of a lengthy process, the flavor and texture that you get from these peels will be more than worth it.

You can candy almost any citrus peel, from lemons and oranges to grapefruits and limes. This topping is in good company with numerous citrus-based pies, including lemon meringue, Key lime, and the like. Of course, it can also be used to add a sophisticated touch to something like a cheesecake or a fruit tart, too.

It might seem a little bit weird to add ricotta to a pie, but don't count this creamy garnish out of the running. It's not as thick as a whipped cream topping, so it's ideal if you're after something with a lighter mouthfeel. Ricotta's taste is also at the intersection of tangy and sweet, which makes it a great pairing for a super sweet pie. 

This whipped topping pairs well with rich pie bases, including fruit pies such as strawberry and berry, as well as spiced ones, like sweet potato, apple, and pumpkin. Simply add the whole milk cheese to a stand mixer with lemon juice, a splash of vanilla extract, and some fine sugar (no one wants a grainy topping, after all), then mix until it's smooth and creamy.

I personally like to add a little dash of vanilla bean paste to my ricotta instead of the extract, as I find it adds a bit more flavor. Plus, those vanilla specks help make it clear you went the extra mile and added "real vanilla."

A lot of the desserts that come to mind when you think of the word "pie" may already have a layer of meringue on top. This includes lemon meringue, chocolate cream, and similar varieties. But have you ever considered adding a meringue topping to things that don't necessarily need it? If not, consider dolloping some Italian meringue on top of a pumpkin pie the next time you make one.

Since you're adding the meringue to the pie after you serve it, you'll want to make sure you're using a meringue that's already cooked — hence an Italian meringue rather than French meringue. You can even add a little sprinkle of sugar on top and brulee it for a beautiful, toasty golden-brown color.

For an easier (yet similar) topping, though, you may just want to reach for a jar of marshmallow creme. It's just as stable — if slightly more sticky — than Italian meringue. You can spoon it on to your pumpkin pie to give it a little bit of a sweet twist, all without taking the focus off the all-important squash.

Few toppings on this list introduce sour flavors to your pie, but this is one of them. A dollop of sour cream can change your pie in ways you likely never thought possible. It can cut through a pie's sweetness like a metaphorical knife, and add the sort of creamy mouthfeel that you'd expect from something similar to whipped cream — just without the extra sugar.

You can always tweak the flavor profile of this creamy addition by stirring in a little bit of sugar, of course, or leaving it as is, before you add it to the top of your pie. I like adding a dollop of sour cream on top of a cherry or a blackberry pie because it soaks down into the pie filling, producing a wonderful texture. If I'm serving a group of people who don't have the biggest sweet tooths, I may also try to whip up a sour cream garnish for something like a pumpkin pie, or even a pecan pie.