Notes about Recipes in this book

• Flaky cream cheese pie crust

  • TrishaCP on March 27, 2016

    This recipe has been successful for many folks per multiple online postings, but it was a complete disaster for me. All was fine (I followed all instructions) until I blind baked the dough, when half of the pie slumped into the middle of the pie plate. I had rolled it, crimped it and left it in the refrigerator overnight so it should have been cold enough-I generally use Pyrex so will not freeze and put a crust into a hot oven (though I will with tart crusts). Would love to hear from anyone else who has used this recipe-at least one other Epicurious user had the same problem that I did. My guess is that the butter and cream cheese combo may cause some issues- apparently many people have some shrinkage with this crust (though RLB says this one is supposed to hold the shape well). I would attempt this again but with a double crust pie only.

  • Bloominanglophile on January 18, 2018

    I used this recipe as it was suggested for the Cherry Lattice Pie. I think it was fine--didn't really have any glaring shrinkage issues, and the crust was fairly easy to roll out. I can't really say that it made a difference in the pie--I would have enjoyed it just as much if I had used Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee recipe (my go to) instead.

  • Frogcake on November 13, 2016

    Just looking at the proportions of flour to butter to water, I think Trisha is correct about the cause for shrinkage. I compared this recipe to the one that I routinely use (Martha Stewart's basic pie crust) and find that Rose's recipe falls short on the proportions for a crust that is light, flakey, and tender. I believe a pie crust recipe needs to stay simple because the focus should be on the filling. So I think I will stick with Martha's recipe, which never shrinks, is easy to work with, and has a buttery, flakey taste.

  • ashallen on November 22, 2019

    This crust didn't turn out well for me. I think user error was part of the problem - it seemed like I didn't let the dough warm up sufficiently after chilling. When I tried rolling it out, multiple small cracks formed in the pastry which then widened during baking and allowed my tart filling to leak through. But I also didn't care for the flavor of the baked crust - it seemed a bit too salty and something about the taste reminded me of crackers!

• Vanilla, chocolate, or gingersnap crumb crust

  • bching on February 26, 2022

    Beranbaum's chocolate crumb crust, made with Nabisco Famous Chocolate wafers, is excellent. I've tried the Vanilla Wafer version twice with the same results: something is off in the measurements that makes the crust scant and crumbly.

• The best all-American apple pie

  • okmosa on October 19, 2022

    This is a great apple pie filling recipe. Lots of steps but definitely worth it. I used my own half butter/half lard crust recipe, though.

  • stockholm28 on October 17, 2015

    This is really an excellent pie filling, but you need to have some time because it is a multi-step process. You macerate the apples for a couple of hours and then strain off the accumulated juice. You cook down the juice with some butter to make a thick syrup and then add back to the apples. The pie sets up beautifully and has a wonderful apple flavor. I used four types of apples that I got at the farmer's market--- Northern Spy, Bramley (first time I've seen them in U.S.), Stayman, and another variety. Absolutely delicious.

• Apple crumb pie

  • stockholm28 on November 29, 2015

    This is an excellent apple pie, but this takes some time. Like her All American Apple Pie, you macerate the apples first. You then take the accumulated juice and boil it down with some butter to make a syrup that is mixed in with the apples. The crumb topping has walnuts in it and it forms just a thin topping. I would have liked just a bit more streusel on top, but it was still very good.

  • TrishaCP on March 28, 2016

    My family was a definite fan of this pie. The extra step of creating a caramel from the apple juices is pretty genius and makes the dish. See my notes for the streusel topping (you may want more) and the cream cheese pie crust (I had big problems with it) in this book before attempting those sub-recipes.

• Cherry lattice pie

  • Bloominanglophile on January 18, 2018

    I was able to purchase some sour cherries at the Santa Fe farmers market this past summer, so I hauled them home and, of course, made a pie. This was a great recipe to highlight those cherries--I will have to try to get to Santa Fe in the early summer more often!

• Open-faced fresh blueberry pie

  • anya_sf on July 19, 2018

    Unlike most pies, this one was light (only one crust) with a lovely fresh flavor. It slices surprisingly neatly, considering there isn't much to hold the berries together. The crust was quite tender. I made cutouts with the pie crust scraps, which I baked and placed on top of the pie for decoration. We enjoyed the pie both plain and with whipped cream.

  • bching on May 31, 2019

    I've been making this pie ever since the Pie and Pastry bible was published--and will make no other blueberry pie. This one really lets the blueberries shine, and it's easy to make. Because half the blueberries are raw, it avoids the jammy texture which in my opinion ruins most berry pies.

• Deep-dish blueberry/cranberry internet pie

  • bching on December 10, 2020

    At her best, Rose Levy Beranbaum is a baking genius. This recipe shows her at her worst, almost a self-parody. Stop, start, let rest for no less than 30 minutes, no more than 3 hours, use a 10-inch pyrex glass pan (and still, the pie filling still boiled over in great quantity, move the pie to a higher rack in the oven after baking for 40 minutes on the floor of the oven. . . . Edible but just not worth it. What was I thinking?

• Blackberry pie

  • jay.moe on June 02, 2022

    The lemon zest was a nice addition to the blackberry filling. I also preferred the cornstarch rather than flour, which I have used with other recipes, as a thickener. I added a few more blackberries than specified in the recipe so the it would fill the pie shell. Deliscious!

• Perfect peach pie

  • okmosa on September 13, 2021

    This recipe was delicious. I wouldn’t change anything.

  • gastronom on August 20, 2017

    This recipe was rated very well when it was published in the Washington Post. See that lising for hints about bakng it.

  • Zosia on August 10, 2020

    Excellent pie! There were a few extra steps in making the filling (macerating the fruit, reducing the collected juice) but the result was worth the effort; the peaches held their shape and were juicy and they tasted of the fresh fruit. I used "My favorite pie crust" from the book, Midwest Made, which worked very well with this filling.

• Un-rugelach mini turnovers

  • ashallen on December 16, 2021

    This is a turnover version of the author's excellent rugelach recipe from The Baking Bible and Rose's Christmas Cookies. Since I love turnovers of all kinds I thought these would be fun to try. They're definitely delicious - tender pastry with a bit of tang from the cream cheese and a rich filling with great winter holiday-flavors. But these were *definitely* more work to construct than rugelach (despite the author's headnote claiming they're easier - ?!?) since the recipe has you roll pastry dough for each turnover individually. Getting filling amounts correct + ensuring a good seal + avoiding tears in the tender dough so as to prevent filling leaks was also fiddly. In addition to be being more work, I didn't like these quite as much as rugelach - the filling's pretty intense when collected in the middle of the cookie and I prefer it to be dispersed throughout. I'll just stick with the rugelach recipe in the future!

• Honeycomb chiffon pie

  • Bloominanglophile on October 06, 2013

    I made this pie back in 2004 for a Slow Food honey-tasting event. It is definitely showy (bubble wrap is used to create the honeycomb design in the chiffon), and its looks might just outshine its taste. Regardless, it was a fun pie to make and present. I used marzipan to make the bees (with melted chocolate stripes and eyes) instead of the ganache. There was only so much effort I was willing to put into this pie!

• Great pumpkin pie

  • lkgrover on November 29, 2019

    My favorite pumpkin pie recipe. And I really enjoy the hidden pecans & crushed ginger cookies.

  • leilx on November 26, 2020

    This is my go-to. I rarely use the gingersnaps and pecans, but I adore how the flavor of the spices is brought out by cooking.

• Shoofly pie

  • stockholm28 on June 21, 2015

    Excellent version of shoofly pie.

• Pure passion ice cream

  • Zosia on August 30, 2017

    Lovely, creamy ice cream that retains all of the fresh fruit flavour and tartness of the passion fruit curd at its base. I used curd left over from a previous project (RLB's White gold passion genoise, Rose's heavenly cakes) and made ice cream sandwiches with coconut crisps (also a RLB recipe from baking bible)

• Kiwi tart with lime curd

  • Zosia on April 19, 2015

    A sweet cookie crust filled with lime curd lightened with whipped cream and topped with fresh kiwi and blueberries, it doesn't get much easier than this. Delicious, and quite beautiful!

• Christmas cranberry galette

  • chawkins on December 13, 2013

    Worst pie disaster I've ever had. Must be operator error. Can't believe a RLB recipe could turn out so badly. I used whole wheat pastry flour for the crust. As the dough refused to come together, I added a tad more water and refrigerated overnight. The cranberry were macerated in granulated sugar overnight as well. I saw no cracks in my formed galette, however all the juices leaked out during baking, getting under the silicone mat, making a hard sticky mess. As a result, the pie was extremely dry. Have to eat it with loads of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

• Pecan pie

  • ashallen on November 25, 2019

    This is delicious. It's also a great pecan pie alternative for those who like a lower ratio of filling to crust in their pecan pies. Although the author calls this a pecan "pie," it's actually baked in a tart form. Recipe specifies either Lyle's Golden Syrup or dark corn syrup - I used golden syrup and thought it had a softer sweetness than corn syrup. Using whole pecans made a very pretty looking tart, but they resisted cutting somewhat (use a sharp knife) and tended to want to separate from the crust. Next time I might do a mixture of chopped and whole pecans to see if that makes a more cohesive slice. Also, the author doesn't call for toasting the pecans - it'd be interesting to see if very lightly toasting them crisps them and enhances their flavor. It'd also be good to experiment with crusts other than the specified Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust which I didn't care for. I did not add the chocolate drizzle topping - I'd expect it to work very well, though.

• Deep-dish chicken potpies

  • Smokeydoke on February 01, 2017

    Life-changing. Unbelievably tasty. I used her cream-cheese crust and made it into one 9 1/2 inch pie (serving was a bit tricky, but it tasted fine) instead of 4 individual pies. The filling is unbelievably tasty. I used button mushrooms but I can't wait to try this again with morels (my favorite), which is what she recommends.

• Baked empanadas

  • ashallen on August 20, 2019

    These are very good - what could be bad about pie pastry wrapped around a savory spiced filling! They are a fair bit of work for a modest number of pastries. As mentioned in the recipe, the unbaked empanadas do freeze well and do great when baked directly from the freezer, so if looking to be more efficient, the recipe could probably be doubled (or more). The filling is very tasty, though I'd expected it to be juicier - this made for very tidy eating and non-soggy pastry, but I'll probably add some more onion next time. I used the suggested whole wheat/butter pastry which worked well - the suggested cheddar cheese pastry also sounds great. I kept my pastry a bit too much on the dry side and it sometimes cracked a bit as I rolled the edges up to seal the empanadas - it needs to be moist enough for some detailed pleating.

• Touch-of-grace biscuits

  • ashallen on March 01, 2020

    Excellent biscuits. Despite using shortening (I used Spectrum organic), these have wonderful rich flavor - I buttered my first but skipped on the rest. Texture's moist and melt-in-your mouth tender. Lightly crusty exterior and soft, non-layered interior. Didn't rise super-high during baking - mine were ~1-1.25 inches high. This might be due in part to my using King Arthur's unbleached cake flour vs White Lily flour - it has twice the protein and probably makes a heavier biscuit (great flavor though!). I also used 3/4 cup heavy cream + 1/2 cup buttermilk - Beranbaum says using all buttermilk yields a lighter biscuit. Leftover biscuits kept surprisingly well to next day in an airtight container. This recipe is Rose Levy Beranbaum's version (with her usual great tips) of Shirley Corriher's "Touch of Grace Biscuit" recipe - the latter is available online from multiple sources.

  • ashallen on October 23, 2020

    Made these again using White Lily self-rising flour as called for in the recipe and, as promised, they were wonderfully tender (a bit more so than when made with King Arthur's unbleached cake flour). In fact, they were so tender that a couple of them "exploded" into pieces when I inverted the biscuits onto a serving plate. I was moving quickly and must have been too rough - next time I'll handle them more carefully!

• Butter biscuits

  • ashallen on July 30, 2022

    Ginger Butter Biscuit variation: This recipe produced moist, tender, lightly sweet biscuits with a lovely ginger flavor. Quite scone-like. I used all buttermilk and self-rising White Lily flour. Unfortunately my biscuit's dimensions were wrong. Instead of rising up, the biscuits spread out and were 3-4 inches wide. I think there are several possible reasons why - my White Lily flour wasn't very fresh so maybe its leavening was tired, I forgot to put parchment paper on the baking sheet, perhaps I didn't knead the biscuit dough thoroughly enough, and I cut the dough into 9 squares instead of cutting out circles with a biscuit cutter - perhaps that sealed the edges. I'll have to try again! Note that there is a small weight conversion error: 17 g / 1 tbsp fresh ginger is 2/3 oz versus 1/3 oz as stated in recipe.

  • anya_sf on June 20, 2022

    Recipe calls for White Lily self-rising flour, or substitute bleached all-purpose flour + cake flour + baking powder + salt. Can substitute buttermilk for part or all of heavy cream. Eggs are required for this recipe.

  • anya_sf on June 21, 2022

    Best biscuits I have ever made. I'd never tried biscuits made with cooked egg yolks before, but now am a convert. I followed the directions exactly, skipping the optional topping, and they turned out perfectly - soft, light, tender, flavorful - not flaky exactly (the dough isn't laminated), but with lots of height and a nice center split. This time I used all heavy cream (what I had) but next time will try buttermilk for less richness.

• Angel butter biscuits

  • ashallen on August 12, 2022

    I made the "Ginger Angel Butter Biscuits" variation of this recipe. Another batch of biscuits gone awry! I've been trying to use up a bag of White Lily self-rising flour that's past its prime and thought the yeast in this recipe would help compensate for any issues the baking powder in the flour might have. Unfortunately it didn't. My biscuits spread outwards instead of upwards and ended up looking like big, soft, cakey cookies. They did have a nice, tender, feathery texture, however. Dough was very wet right after mixing but handled fine (with dusting flour) after chilling 24 hours. I baked the biscuits on an insulated cookie sheet without parchment and they stuck fast - next time I'll use parchment. Also, I didn't care for the combination of yeast and ginger flavors. It wasn't a bad combination, just not to my taste. I'll give this recipe (the non-ginger version) another try at some point with fresh flour.

• Strawberry shortcake

  • anya_sf on June 19, 2022

    Gelatin and creme fraiche are only needed for some of the optional fillings, not for the basic recipe.

  • anya_sf on June 22, 2022

    Good, straightforward strawberry shortcake recipe. Biscuits were wonderful. Recipe says to use 1/2 cup berries per person, which would leave some left over; I used all of them and was happy with the amount of berries. Slicing the berries would have made for neater assembly, plus might have exuded more juice. I only got a few tablespoons of juice (from 1/2 recipe), so I did not reduce it. I just used perfect whipped cream, but think one of the other variations (e.g., lemon curd cream) would make these extra special.

• Currant scones

  • ashallen on December 18, 2019

    Great scones! Some scone recipes advise handling the dough very lightly - this one goes the other way and calls for folding and rolling the dough multiple times like one does when making puff pastry. I was impressed by how well it worked. Lots of flaky layers and a beautiful high rise during baking. Exterior was lightly crisp and interior was rich and moist. I made the lemon poppy seed version which was lightly sweet - I'll add a bit more sugar next time. Recipe calls for lemon zest only so no tartness but nice, strong lemon scent. The lemons at the store this week had a wonderful aroma and that carried over to the scones! Untrimmed dough edges stayed "pinched" during cooking and didn't rise as high as trimmed edges. Squatter triangles held shape better than elongated ones which wanted to flop more to the side. Used insulated cookie sheet+no baking stone. Removing from oven at 200F in center worked great - I tried taking one out at ~192F and it was overly moist (bit sludge-y) inside.

• Spanakopita triangles (or pie)

  • Zosia on January 26, 2022

    Excellent! There was a good ratio of filling to pastry and as with all RLB recipes, ingredient measurements and directions were precise and made exactly the amount stated. I made the triangles.

• Quick puff pastry

  • Zosia on March 06, 2014

    No more difficult to make than regular pie crust, the dough comes together quickly and becomes easier to work with with each consecutive fold and turn. I used a reliable brand of regular Canadian butter - not the recommended higher fat, european-style - with stellar results.

• Cheese straws

  • Zosia on March 06, 2014

    The pastry was excellent (quick puff, page 420), crisp, flaky, beautifully puffed up, but the flavour was somewhat underwhelming with cheese flavour lacking. The hot Hungarian paprika I used helped, but next time I'll double or even triple the cheese.

• Whole wheat croissants

  • anya_sf on September 25, 2021

    Having had difficulty with whole wheat laminated dough in the past, I used all white flour. Overall, these turned out better for me than RLB's recipe from The Bread Bible. However, I had trouble rolling out the final dough, I think due to the 4th turn; next time I'd just do 3 turns. The dough took so long to roll that it got too warm, so when I cut it, it stuck to itself. Somehow I measured the triangles wrong and got 20 mini croissants. Claire Saffitz's shaping instructions (Dessert Person) were easier to follow. In a 70 F room, the croissants took nearly 4 hours to rise (as Rose says). They baked up fairly well (no butter leakage!), but got a little overbaked, plus the 2 trays didn't bake evenly even though I rotated them. Still, being croissants, they were delicious.

• Authentic Danish pastry dough

  • Zosia on March 11, 2014

    My first attempt at making this laminated dough met with great success thanks to the author's meticulous instructions and additional tips. The danishes were light, flaky and tender and unlike anything I'd eaten before. Made initially just to challenge myself - and to reduce my baking "bucket list" by one item - I suspect this will be repeated in future...so many shapes and filling combinations to try!

  • ashallen on December 27, 2021

    After procrastinating on learning how to make danish for years (intimidated by both lamination and mounds of butter!), I finally went for it after my husband requested cherry cheese danishes as a special treat for the holidays. The author's instructions and diagrams are great - more in-depth and clearer than other books in my collection. I was surprised by how nice and relaxed and non-sticky the dough was (even though I gave it the shortest recommended initial refrigerator rest) - it was actually a pleasure to roll out! My cold kitchen (low 60Fs) probably didn't hurt. I used the dough for the Danish Pastry Twists recipe from this book. As the author mentions under her "Pointer for Success," complete proofing made a big difference in texture. I baked the danishes in two batches. The second batch proofed well and produced light pastries with crisp exteriors and melt-in-your-mouth interiors. The first batch proofed less well and was noticeably denser and chewier (though still delicious!).

• Danish pastry twists

  • ashallen on December 27, 2021

    My first time making homemade danish and I was amazed I could create these by following the author's excellent, detailed instructions. I think these are the most buttery-tasting danish I've ever had. I used the cream cheese filling and homemade cherry jam. I skipped the optional remonce and left the lemon juice out of the transparent sugar glaze which was fine. I also skipped the sugar glaze stripes even though they would have been pretty, and we were happy with how sweet the danishes were without them. Some butter oozed from the danish during baking (not sure that's supposed to happen), but they reabsorbed it as they cooled. I baked these in two batches. First batch didn't proof sufficiently, even after 2.5 hours at 77F, and was noticeably denser than the second batch (though still delicious!). Second batch proofed better and had a wonderfully light, tender interior. I refrigerated the pre-rolled dough rectangle for Batch #2 overnight and that really helped boost the proofing.

• Honey-stung cream cheese filling

  • ashallen on December 27, 2021

    A relatively dry and firm cheese filling that stayed nicely in place in individual danish centers during baking. Flavor worked well with cherry jam. Leftovers were good as a spread on toast.

• Apricot lekvar

  • ashallen on September 25, 2019

    This apricot lekvar is delicious and easy to make. Thick, but still spreadable, texture. I used sulfite-free organic dried apricots - I always think their flavor is more complex than that of other dried apricots and since this lekvar is primarily dried apricots, their flavor dominates. I substituted plain brandy for the apricot or peach brandy specified in the recipe - still delicious. It's kept very well in the freezer and thaws quickly. [Cross-post for The Pie and Pastry Bible/Rose's Heavenly Cakes.]

• Classic cream puff pastry

  • Zosia on April 18, 2018

    My go-to, never-fail recipe for choux pastry that always produces hollow puffs with dry interiors. I use the food processor mixing method which is very quick and easy.

• Spicy cheese puffs (Gougères)

  • ashallen on July 14, 2021

    As the recipe headnotes promise, these puffed well and have a nice crisp exterior. I used gruyere instead of cheddar and reduced the garlic to a quarter of the amount called for in the recipe. These changes made for mildly flavored puffs which would have been fine with a filling, but since we ate them on their own, were a bit too mellow. Next time I'll follow the recipe! Recipe says you can use foil-lined cookie sheets for baking but doesn't mention greasing/flouring the foil so I didn't bother. Most of the puffs unfortunately stuck fast to the foil and lost their bottoms as I tried to remove them. Next time I'll grease/flour the foil - or perhaps the puffs will behave better with the cheddar cheese called for in the recipe...

• Streusel topping

  • TrishaCP on March 28, 2016

    This is a perfectly serviceable streusel topping for pies, but the amounts for a 9 inch pie are a tad stringy. I wasn't able to fully cover the pie with the amount of streusel it made.

• Raspberry sauce

  • WendyKinney on July 11, 2011

    This sauce is orgasmic. Use the microwave ( oil a glass measuring cup four time as big as you need, it will boil up) and people will be lined up to take this home, while you'll be licking your fingers. You do need the Cuisinart power strainer, do use both the fresh lemon and the Chambord. do make a double recipe so you can be generous and still have leftovers.

• Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum

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