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From: , MA USA

Joined: May 2nd, 2011


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September 24th, 2012

The Baked Brownie from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

These were quite good! A couple of notes: first, the recipe calls for chocolate that contains 60-72% cocoa solids. I used 70% chocolate and for me, they were almost too sweet (though I still managed... read more >


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lovesgenoise's Reviews


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18 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 18Sort by: Title | Date | Rating

The Pie and Pastry Bible

By Rose Levy Beranbaum
Scribner - 1998

2nd May 2012

Apple Galette : page 278

Very delicious, and one of the easiest, no-fuss pies in the book. I've made this recipe twice now, and both times I chose it because I had plenty of other cooking to do. I have used the apricot glaze both times, as it adds a little bit of golden color and an un-identifiable extra flavor dimension. As long as you don't put on too much, the apricot flavor blends with the fruit rather than being noticeable on its own.

When I made the pear variation, I must have used a little more fruit or cut my slices a little large, because the pie took an extra 15" of baking to get the pears to be done. I covered the crust with pieces of foil during the extra baking time, as it was getting fairly brown.

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8th December 2011 (edited: 12th December 2011)

Blackberry Pie : page 115

I've never been overly fond of fresh blackberries, but after reading that the baked fruit is wonderful, I decided to give this pie a whirl. I'm glad I did- it's delicious. The baked fruit does seem to have more flavor than fresh. The recipe states that frozen berries are of a type that have softer seeds, and that was true with my (frozen) fruit.

My fruit was tart (and the recipe adds lemon) so there wasn't enough sugar in the pie for us. We sprinkled some on afterwards, but next time I'll taste it before baking.

For the crust, I chose the sweet cream variation of the basic flaky (all-butter) crust. I liked this variation even better than basic flaky, very tender from the cream, and delicious as well. Not sure if it will displace my favorite cream cheese crust, but almost.

I made a lattice crust, partly because I didn't have the fluted oval cut-outs that make the sketches of the two-crust pie so appealing. But also because I wanted the practice. I think there is more evaporation with the lattice than with a vented two-crust pie, and after looking at other recipes, I would reduce the corn starch by 1 - 1.5 tsp if making this again.

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29th June 2011 (edited: 9th August 2011)

Blueberry Tart with Lemon Curd : page 258

This is a lovely, intensely flavored blueberry-lemon tart. For the berries I had, I found the lemon curd slightly overpowering, but I think that was the fault of the berries, not the recipe. Next time, I'll taste the berries and adjust the quanitity of lemond curd down a bit if they're mildly flavored. This would be sublime with wild blueberries, the little ones that are grown in Maine, as they are so intensely flavored.

When blind baking the crust, make it nearly as brown as you would like the finished tart to be. The second baking, with the lemon curd, is short and very little additional browning takes place.

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2nd May 2011 (edited: 25th November 2011)

Concord Grape Pie : page 127

So far, this is my favorite recipe in the book, it's a fabulous pie. Every year we freeze concord grapes so that we can make this pie several more times after the Fall grape season is over.

It's a very liquid-y/juicy pie, and for me sometimes bakes up a bit messy, so the picture is of this pie with all the components prepared separately and then assembled. The "top crust" was two grape leaves baked on a sheet pan and place on top of the pie just before serving.

The pie pairs very nicely with lemon, either lemon whipped cream or lemon ice cream.

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24th May 2011 (edited: 3rd June 2011)

Designer Cherry Pie : page 95

A showcase recipe for tart/sour cherries. The first time I made this I followed the recipe exactly, it's sublime. Compared to the standard lattice-top recipe on the previous page, it contains more fruit, which suited our taste perfectly.

The second time, I reduced the juices by half, then decreased the sugar and cornstarch accordingly. Also wonderful, but a few might find it bordering on overly cloying and intense. I think this works best if the juices are reduced in the microwave (rather than stovetop), to avoid caramelizing or browning, which would make the tart filling seem bitter.

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2nd May 2011 (edited: 30th October 2011)

Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust : page 29

Just sublime. Best tasting pie crust I've ever had- leaps and bounds ahead of all-butter crusts. There's an updated version on the author's blog that uses heavy cream instead of water for added tenderness, which is great if you're using all-purpose flour instead of lower protein pastry flour.

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23rd April 2012

Fresh Strawberry and Rhubarb Tart : page 256

I love strawberries but have never tried a strawberry-rhubarb pie until this one- boy, was I missing out! It's a wonderful combo, I can tell it's going to have to join my collection of pies that I make every year.

Full disclosure- I didn't come home from the grocery with enough rhubarb, so this had about 3/4 of what was called for. And I used strawberry halves instead of the thinner slices that were called for. But even with my altered proportions, this pie was terriffic, highly recommended.

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30th November 2011 (edited: 30th November 2011)

Gateau Basque : page 294

This tart is for the pastry cream lover, and that suits me perfectly. It's a layer of vanilla-rum pastry cream encased top, bottom and sides with an almond cookie crust. There's something pleasing about the way this is constructed, I find myself wondering how to make other pies into some version of this simple, elegant presentation.

The next time I make this I will pull back a bit on both the sugar and the rum in the pastry cream, to suit my own taste.

The recipe seemed complicated when I read through how to shape the dough between two pans, but it's simpler than it sounds and it went off without a hitch. I made the crust dough and the pastry cream a day ahead of rolling, assembling and baking the tart, and that seemed to be a good division of labor, not too much to do on either day.

This tart slices very neatly and thinly, it could easily serve 20 or more thin slices if other desserts were on offer.

Corrections
The author has published two adjustments for this recipe: first, to add a tablespoon of heavy cream to the yolk/vanilla mixture to make the dough hold together better; and second, to bake it at 325 instead of 350F.

For the tart in the photos, I re-rolled the scraps and cut them into leaves, baked them separately on a sheet pan, and attached them while still hot with a little egg white. I served it with a sour cherry conserve, but I think it would be even better with sweetened or brandied whole sour cherries, or fresh sweet (bing) cherries.

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24th May 2011 (edited: 24th May 2011)

Lemon Angel Chiffon Pie : page 157

A light, elegant pie that was very popular with guests and could be made ahead and frozen.

I chose the version with the almond pate sucree crust, rather than the meringue shell, and included the optional raspberry sauce in a webbed design on top of the pie.

There are a lot of components to this pie- crust, lemond curd, whipped cream and italian meringue, plus the raspberry sauce, but it was nice to have a creation that can just be defrosted and served when needed.

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12th November 2011 (edited: 12th November 2011)

Lemon Meringue Pie : page 178

Made this Lemon Meringue Pie for houseguests last week, and they all declared it was the best they'd ever had. I have to say, I agree- the filling layer is deep (perfect recipe for a deep dish pie plate), lemony and just a bit creamy. It is not as intense as a lemon curd, but perfectly balanced with the crust and meringue. I used the flaky cream cheese crust, my favorite.

Use a Saucepan
After a few bakers had trouble with the filling not setting, Ms. Beranbaum posted a change to the recipe on her website: make the filling in a saucepan (instead of a double boiler) and be sure to bring it to a full boil. I did this and had no problems.

The other important point is to fully anchor the meringue onto the crust so it won't shrink. I made the Italian meringue and had no trouble with it, but it was harder to cut cleanly after a night in the fridge.

I think the meringue quantity in the recipe is probably just right- it seemed like it was high enough as I was piling it on, so I didn't use all that the recipe made. But after baking mine seemed a little short so I probably should have used it all after all.

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2nd May 2011 (edited: 2nd May 2011)

Open Face Designer Apple Pie : page 84

My all-time favorite apple pie, we make it every Fall after picking apples at local orchards. The open face design allows blind baking of the crust for the crispiest pastry. The method of concentrating the juices gives an intense and pure flavor, as less thickener is needed. Can't wait to make it again.

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2nd May 2011 (edited: 2nd May 2011)

Peaches and Cream Tart : page 266

Delicious, creamy and full of peaches. It took me several tries to get this one right- the key is to be sure to bake the peaches long enough that they have exuded all their juice before adding the custard mixture. If they are still firm, they haven't baked long enough. They should be almost fully baked. If you add the custard too soon, the tart will have a lot of extra juices that flow out when sliced.

I bake this pie to an internal temp of 160F to ensure that the custard is properly thickened.

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2nd May 2011 (edited: 16th May 2011)

Pecan Pie : page 302

The ultimate pecan pie, baked with plenty of pecans and a shallow layer of filling so it isn't overly sweet (you can see how thin the filling is in the photo with the cut tart). The Lyle's syrup is delicious in this pie, don't be tempted to substitute. It pairs well with bourbon (as in bourbon whipped cream).

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30th November 2011 (edited: 30th November 2011)

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie : page 155

Loved this pie! When I saw the quanities of salt and nutmeg, I had my doubts, but the flavor of this pie is sublime.

I made it a day ahead of serving and so used 75% of the gelatin/water as per the instructions in the beginning of the chiffon chapter. The texture was ethereal and light, just holding its shape for cutting.

I wanted a prettier presentation than I normally get with a crumb crust, so instead of the gingersnap crust I used the sweet nut cookie crust, using pecans for the nuts, brown sugar for the sugar, and adding a little ginger. It went well with the filling but wasn't as flavorful as a good gingersnap.

The whipped cream and pecans in the photo are from the back section of the book, I've linked to those reviews.

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24th May 2011

Red Currant-Raspberry Lattice Pie : page 113

A lovely pie for anyone who loves raspberries. The flavor of currants stayed mostly in the background, but complemented the raspberries nicely.

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30th November 2011 (edited: 12th September 2012)

Stabilized Whipped Cream : page 553

This is a wonderful and easy way to stabilize whipped cream with starch so it won't water out. It makes the cream suitable for piping or for storing up to a day ahead of serving (refrigerated).

It's easier to make than the super-stabilized whipped cream (made with gelatin) because the window of time to add the small, thickened portion of cream to the larger bowl is much longer- i.e., with the gelatin, you have to time it carefully (I set the timer), but with the starch, it is a more relaxed process.

The same quantities and method can also be used for cassava/tapioca starch, which will enable the stabilized cream to be frozen and thawed without watering out. Corn starch doesn't freeze well.

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30th November 2011

Sugar Glazed Nuts : page 593

These are the candied pecans I used for a garnish on the Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. They are delicious, but be aware that the recipe is right when it describes the crust of sugar as "fine", it is a very thin layer.

The next time I make these, I may experiment with reducing the quantity of water in the syrup, to see if the thickness of the sugar layer can be controlled by the water content of the syrup.

I use them for salads as well as dessert garnishes.

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30th November 2011 (edited: 2nd December 2011)

Sweet Nut Cookie Tart Crust : page 58

I've made this crust several times, mostly with almonds but once with pecans. It is my favorite pate sucree, the nuts add flavor and help keep it tender.

To ensure the crust doesn't crack, I like to use a whole egg in place of the yolk and cream, the book talks about this version of the crust in the "Understanding" section on p. 58.

I love the process and smooth results of rolling the dough (instead of pressing it into the pan). Unless my kithcen is quite cool, it often needs to be chilled part way through rolling to keep it from becoming too sticky.

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