Trader Joe’s does it again. Bad pie, TJ.

Picture of homemade pie.

You would think that with a title of (take deep breath) Trader Joe’s Chocolate Pumpkin Pecan Praline Tart, how could they miss, right? Nice cheerful orange label with chocolate dots, attractive looking pie. But I won’t make you wait until the end of the review: thumbs down.

What is the difference between tart and pie? [Pause while I go over to Google.]? Okay, here:

A tart is made with a crust formed in a tart pan or a low, straight-walled pan with a removable bottom. A pie, similar to a tart, is baked in a pie pan that has sloping sides. Both a tart and a pie can have the crust prebaked and filled or baked with fruits, custards or chocolate.

Everything 2 agrees with that. Already, things are not quite right with this TJ dessert. This is definitely a pie, not a tart.

Anyway, it has a sweet crumbly crust. I love soft crusts! But it’s not real chocolate, and it doesn’t taste like chocolate, unless it’s the cheap drugstore kind. The filling has a slightly crunchy filling, of substance, but not chewy.

Pumpkin is one of my top flavors – I’ve never met a pumpkin product I didn’t like! I can taste the pumpkin, feel the pecans, and very vaguely taste the praline. But it doesn’t add up to much together. And at $6.99 each, it’s too expensive for below average. (I bought this last month, when the economy was slightly better. I wouldn’t even buy it now.)

Trader Joe’s doesn’t have the confidence to post photographs of any of the products it sells. Or the PR know how. So no photo from them. The photo above is from Viking Range, which has lots of other yummy looking recipes.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Our local Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake is run like a slum store, even though it’s the busiest store in the country! So no love lost there. I even wrote a lyrical poem about it in my other blog: http://donnabarstow.com/park_blog/2008/02/28/i-hate-trader-joes-silver-lake/. But I like the Trader Joe’s in Toluca Lake, so perhaps I’m not biased after all.

And check out my chocolate cartoons blog for more talk about desserts.