andrew's Reviews
8 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 8Sort by: Title 
| Date | Rating
The Pie and Pastry Bible
By Rose Levy Beranbaum
Scribner - 1998
Basic Flaky Pie Crust : page 22
She may call this basic, but I call it indispensable. I made her 'All American Apple Pie' with this crust, and it was perfect - flaky, crunchy, buttery and not hard to work with at all.
As with her other crusts, it's a little complicated - you freeze some of the butter in advance, then knead the whole amount in a plastic freezer bag when it's mixed. But the result tells the tale. This is now my default crust.
useful (0)
Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust : page 29
Very tasty indeed - the cream cheese adds a lovely flavour and texture. I do find this one a little more difficult to work with than her basic butter crust, however - unless you're in a cold kitchen you do get a bit more sticking when you roll out the pastry as the cream cheese softens while you work it. Though I'm a bit slow with a rolling pin, so that doesn't help...
useful (1)
Fresh Berry Tart : page 255
This got raves as the dessert at a recent BBQ. I made it as written in the recipe (with one exception) with her Sweet Cookie Tart Crust, Pastry Cream and fresh blueberries and raspberries.
I made the pastry cream, but didn't add the whipped cream as recommended, so it was heavier than in the regular recipe. It was thick but not quite thick enough to prevent it from oozing out when I started cutting the tart. Maybe it would have worked better with the whipped cream as it would have been lighter and possibly a bit stiffer (if that's not a contradiction).
Anyway, though a bit messy, it was delicious, and we ate it all up.
useful (1)
Fresh Blueberry Pie : page 106
A very nice combination of blueberries and lemon make this a refreshing, slightly tart pie. We used our own blueberries for this, along with lots of lemon zest and lemon juice. The sugar is important, as cooked blueberries do get a bit less sweet. I might try increasing it from 1/2 cup to 3/4 next time, just to edge up the sweetness a little. Otherwise, this was near-perfect.
useful (0)
Fruit Turnovers : page 134
Pretty good indeed, though I found it hard to fit enough fruit in to make them really stuffed full! And it takes a long time to make these, what with the pastry making, the refrigerating, the prep of the filling...
I did like the idea of reducing the juice that drips from the apples with some butter, though. The filling was really tasty.
useful (1)
Pumpkin Chiffon Pie : page 155
I had to make this after reading the glowing reviews, and I was not disappointed. I made the recipe almost exactly (to the gram) following the directions, with only one change (see below).
As usual, Rose provides incredible detail, and although it takes more time than whipping up a standard pumpkin pie, the result is more than worth it.
I used gingersnaps (Anna's brand) for the crust, with pecans. My mother-in-law told me this was the best pie she'd ever had.
Note: my one change was that I heated the egg whites for the chiffon, using the 'new safe meringue' technique worked out by Alice Medrich, but using the quantities here rather than the ones in the technique I linked to, and not bothering with the cream of tartar.
useful (3)
Sweet Cookie Tart Crust : page 56
This is a very nice pate sucree recipe, with Rose's customary detailed directions and exact measurements. Easy to make, and hard to mess up. I skipped the step where you pour it into a freezer bag to knead it and just dumped it onto a large piece of plastic wrap; it came together quickly after that.
I put it in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes after putting it into the tart shell I was using, then blind baked it with weights for a bit shy of her recommended time.
useful (7)
The Best All-American Apple Pie : page 81
It lives up to its name (though being Canadian, I'd like to take a little license and call it the best 'North American' apple pie!
Using one of her excellent crusts, I've made this several times, and it's always great. She has two very simple secrets to this pie: the first, collect the juices from the apples as they sit in a colander macerating, mixed with some sugar, lemon and spice, then boil them down into a syrup. The second is to ensure the apple slices are all 1/4 inch or less to reduce any gap between the crust and the filling.
Oh, and I have to mention her recommendation to bake pies low in the oven on a baking stone. This had never occurred to me before, but it's brilliant - you get a nice crisp bottom crust and slightly less chance of the top pastry burning.
useful (4)