The Pie and Pastry Bible

Now this is what folks mean when they talk about a definitive book. I will never have to purchase another pie and pastry how-to. This book covers it all with a depth that satisfies all questions. If you love Alton Brown and judiciously read all of the Cooks Illustrated background testing info, this book is for you. I am so happy with this book that I am not just looking up specific recipes, I am literally reading it as if it were a novel. (I am a curious cook.)For the novice pie and pastry baker, you may think this will be too overwhelming for you. I think this is written in such a way that you will "get it" and thus start out making things correctly. For the experienced, this book is a problem solver and is the road to perfection.This book contains more than 300 recipes. There are more than 15 recipes for pie crusts plus variations. With that said, obviously not every pie under the sun is here, but there is enough information for you to make improvements on any recipe that is not covered.This book is so close to perfect, I gave it five stars. However, I do have some criticisms. First, this book needs to better catalog the recipes. The table of contents lists simply the chapters, such as fruit pies, tarts, custard pies etc. The chapters delve into the subject without listing the recipes. I would prefer that each chapter had a mini table of contents that listed individual recipes.My second criticism is the altering of classic recipes to suit her personal tastes. I realize this is completely subjective, but if she were a Southerner, I wouldn't have to continue to hunt for recipes for chess pie and coconut custard pie. This is the same criticism I had of the Cook's Illustrated baking volume too. However, we're talking about two or three recipes in each book that I don't agree with, so the books were still worth the purchase.Speaking of Cook's Illustrated, if I had to choose between this book and Baking Illustrated, I would go with this book. If both are an option for you, get both. Cook's does a good job of balancing flavor with speed. The bible series seems to be all about flavor with little regard to speed.My last criticism is a minor one and I realize it is as subjective as the author's taste when writing the recipes; I find the language and recipe structure awkward at times. I think the Williams-Sononma Collection, while not the most exhaustive collection of recipes, is the best example of recipe writing.I wanted to make pie crust from scratch for Thanksgiving, so I paid rush shipping charges to get this book here and it is worth the expense. I made a test basic flaky pie crust and it came out perfectly.[....]

When I discovered Pillsbury readymade (pre-rolled) pie crusts in a local grocery store's cold case, I started making pies again for my pie-loving husband. THE PIE AND PASTRY BIBLE is rather famous for its great, detailed instructions on making the perfect pie crust, but I use this book for its equally great pie filling recipes.Recently I made an absolutely scrumptious blackberry pie, the "secret" being author Beranbaum's recipe that calls for a few tablespoons of lemon juice and lemon zest. She also cautioned--quite correctly--that the quality of my finished pie would depend on the quality of the blackberries used. My second blackberry pie was delicious, but not quite as scrumptious as the first, because I combined farmer's market and grocery produce department blackberries, instead of using only fresh blackberries from the farmer's market. This book has recipes for all of the classic pies (e.g., apple, berry, lemon meringue, banana cream, pumpkin, chicken pot, quiche), and for many variations and other varieties. There is, for example, a recipe for making Napoleons (one of my favorite pastries)! The author's folksy text about her early experiences, and her serious experiments, with pie making is another pleasurable "plus" factor with this book.Mine is the Kindle edition, which is quite satisfactory when viewed on a 1st Gen Kindle Fire or 8.9" Kindle Fire HD tablet. The 70 color photographs from the original hardcover edition are missing, but the charts and line drawings are there. (The charts are very small in a Kindle Keyboard.) To navigate, I use bookmarks at the recipes I've used, at the Table of Contents, and at the Index. The Index is very detailed, and has working page links to the indexed recipes and information.If you could have only one book of pie recipes, this one would be an excellent choice. Two other pie recipe books that I like very much in Kindle editions are Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie (another comprehensive reference work), and Pillsbury Easy as Pie: 140 Simple Recipes (a great book with simple recipes for classic pies made with Pillsbury readymade pie crusts).

Fabulous recipes- great directions

I purchased a few books from Mrs. Beranbaum, in order to prepare something special this past Holiday Season. I am a beginner baker with a passion to learn. At first it seemed a bit confusing with all the measurements and jumping around from one section to another, but after taking the time to read and to absorb the information I found that I understood the recipes and format much better. This is not your simple and typical cookbook. This is a book for baking which is more involved and loaded with tips and I found this book to be educational.The real proof is in the pudding, so I made 3 pies from two of Mrs. Beranbaum's cookbooks, The Baking Bible and The Pie and Pastry Bible. I made three different crusts one for each apple, cherry, and pumpkin pies. Let's just say that my family was very impressed! The pies turned out perfect all three times and were very delicious! I'm kinda proud and pleased that my first ever pies, from scratch, looked and tasted great!Though I have much to learn and I do need more practice on the are of pie making, I found that this book is money well spent. Thank you Mrs. Rosse Levy Beranbaum! I love your books!