The Pie and Pastry Bible
The Pie and Pastry Bible: member book reviews (Single Review Display)
Whiskeyed from Saskatoon, SK
This is the book that taught me how to make a pie crust. Most of my previous attempts ended in failure. I was looking to learn how to make a crust that held together long enough to get it into the pie plate ... anything else was a bonus.
I have learned much more than that. This book is graced with Rose's exellent details that help ensure good results. Everything I've ever made from this book is good to excellent. In all fairness, I think pastries are more difficult to learn/teach than other baked goods; making this book remarkable. The pastries are perfectly balanced in terms of flavour, texture, and sweetness.
The only issue I have had stemmed from baking pies from frozen and found they were a bit over done when following the directions from the book....but have since resolved this on the authors' website.
Aside from the above issue, I cannot stress enough how well tested the recipes are in this book. Many pastry recipes from other sources suggest a variation in the amount of water/liquid to be added -- I rarely need to adjust the liquid with Rose's pastry recipes -- I use a scale and it is almost always perfect as written. When possible, objective details are provided (heat to 170F -- for example) -- a huge asset.
This is a great book for the novice (you can make a great crust by following these directs) or the experienced baker who wishes to make more involved pastries. One caveat: there are often many steps to the recipes, but you are rewarded with excellent pastries.
(edited 17th November 2011) report
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