[1] An elegant two-crust blueberry pie, with a sprinkle of decorating sugar (photo courtesy King Arthur Flour).

[2] Cut-outs are an easy way to decorate a one-crust pie (photo courtesy American Pie Council).

January 23rd is National Pie Day, a celebration for pie lovers everywhere.

Few of us would pass up a piece of pie because it had a plain top crust. In fact, bring it here right now, and a cup of coffee, too.

But if you’re a pastry artist like Lauren Ko of LoKo Kitchen, every pie top is a canvas, every pie an opportunity to create a new work of art. See her Instagram page for even more beauties.

Consider then twelve pies below. Some have top crusts, some don’t.

Each has its own personality, made with:

 
For two crust pies, lattice and cut-outs (photo #2) have long been popular. The top crust lends itself to all sorts of craft work.
 
There’s even more of a canvas with a one-crust pie, such as:

 
Some one-crust contenders, like chess pie, pecan pie and tarte Tatin, are already so sweet that a counterpoint of crème fraîche, slightly sweetened sour cream or slightly sweetened/unsweetened whipped cream is a better choice.

Others, like Bavarian cream pie, black bottom pie and nesselrode pie, already have too much going on up top.

[3] Twelve beautiful pie tops by Lauren Ko, @LokoKitchen.