Notes about Recipes in this book

• Paprika peach pie

  • Melanie on May 31, 2014

    Delicious - made a few changes (adding juniper berries, skipping the paprika and white pepper). Great pie filling.

  • Smokeydoke on June 15, 2020

    I really enjoyed this pie and I really enjoyed this book. They get me. Most people want you to bake the perfect summer peaches. I'm like, no no no, perfect peaches are for eating, bad peaches are for pie. And nothing disguises bad peaches like paprika. I like how they're heavy-handed with their flavors, I'm all for boldness and creativity. This pie would be awesome paired with sweet-corn ice cream.

  • LauraMB on August 21, 2024

    I made the pie as written, and I enjoyed it. However, I would change the order of adding ingredients to maximize the flavor. Next time I will macerate the peaches in only the sugar. Then I will reduce the juices, add them back to the peaches and then add the spices and the potato starch. By adding all of the spices and potato starch as written in the recipe, most of the spices and starch end up being discarded with the juices.

• Peaches & cream pie

  • clkandel on July 14, 2015

    This recipe doesn't work at room temperature, but is much better chilled.

  • twoyolks on July 28, 2015

    I really liked this pie. The oatmeal crust really compliments the peaches and cream. The spices are also a nice touch.

  • Astrid5555 on August 09, 2015

    We really liked this pie a lot! The oat crumble crust is delicious and goes really well with the custard and the peaches. A very quick pie to make compared to some others from the book.

  • mrshalf on November 01, 2017

    I made six of these pies one day to give to friends. Although they all loved them (I mean who doesn't love a surprise of pie!), I didn't think after all the pies I've made that this type is a keeper for us. It was meh at room temp and looked mushy. It was a little better cold - I guess we're just traditional peach pie fans, I'll save the "cream" for chocolate cream pies, lol.

  • anya_sf on July 05, 2018

    The crust was tricky. I melted the butter in hopes that it would be easier to press in the pan, but it was still difficult. A silicone spatula proved to be the best tool to press it in, plus the folded kitchen towel to fix it after baking. Still, the edges crumbled. I was so worried about overbaking the pie that I feared I underbaked it (after 40 minutes in the oven). The outer edges were set and the center slightly wobbly, but it also looked rather runny. I decided to let it cool in the oven, cheesecake-style, after turning the oven off. It actually turned out nearly perfect - very creamy and smooth. It was delicious and I'd definitely make it again, although perhaps with modifications to the crust. I served it well chilled.

  • julesamomof2 on June 26, 2019

    This tasted good, but was browner than pictured and didn't really look all that special or appetizing to be honest. It was also hard to tell when it was done, although the recipe timing ended to work fine for me. I had no problems with the crust and was happy with how easy this was to put together.

  • dogo on June 29, 2025

    Nice idea. The crust is delicious if you use it for baking cookies, as a pie crust it is overly sweet. Bake the custard to completion, wobbling centre makes a soggy centre. The coloring of the custard is not to my liking, a bid too brownish. Next time I woud use granulated sugar, an extra egg (or two) and cream for the custard.

• White nectarine & red currant pie

  • Astrid5555 on August 16, 2015

    Wow, this was sooo good! I made it in a pie pan with a lattice top and not as suggested in a tart pan with a pastry round to top, since the instructions how to fit the dough into the tart pan sounded a little too fussy for my taste. I also added 2 tablespoons of brown sugar to the filling. The original recipe has no sugar in the filling, and even though I do not like my pies too sweet I was afraid that the addition of the red currants would make the filling too tart. With the additional sugar though, the filling had the perfect sweetness paired with the tartness from the red currants. A definite keeper.

• Black currant lemon chiffon pie

  • LauraMB on January 10, 2023

    I made this recipe with blueberries, as I have never seen black currants in the store. It was very good, but required more fruit than the recipe called for. The recipe should note that the sugar should be divided: one cup for the fruit and the rest for the chiffon.

• Skillet stone fruit streusel pie

  • twoyolks on July 13, 2015

    I made this with apricots, plums, and plumcots. While the recipe states that one should adjust the amount of sugar depending on the fruit, no guidelines are given (not even for what type of fruit the recipe sugar amount was written for). This meant that my pie ended up too tart. The pie tasted similar to any other stone fruit pie. There's enough liquid in the filling that it leaked behind the pie crust. When cutting the pie, it mostly fell apart.

  • LauraMB on January 10, 2023

    This was a tasty pie, but nothing out of the ordinary. I used 2 1/2 pounds of peaches. I increased the brown sugar slightly, using 1 cup total. I also increased the cinnamon to 1 tsp.

• Salted caramel apple pie

  • Astrid5555 on January 25, 2014

    What an incredibly delicious apple pie! The caramel sauce alone is worth the effort, even though it took ages for the sauce to change to its desired color. The recipe for the sauce yields much more than needed for the pie, so now I have two mason jars full of delicious caramel sauce as well. The pie turned out great, no soggy bottom, once I found out that the 2 tablespoons of AP flour were probably meant to be put on the unbaked crust before adding the filling. No mention of where to use the additional flour in the recipe but consulting the how-to manual at the beginning of the book yielded the probable explanation. Husband declared it best pie ever, and I agree!

  • Foodo on January 28, 2014

    purely awesome http://foododelmundo.com/2013/12/29/4-20-blackbirds-salted-caramel-apple-pie/

  • PiaOC on March 21, 2014

    Oh WOW - what a pie! Absolute success at the dinner party table - divine. Felt like I was the winning contestant on a cooking show! An easy, easy pastry - rolled out beautifully, the caramel is delicious and the combination of spices and herbs really enhanced the flavour of the apples. Bitters is such an inspired addition. Astrid5555 - the extra flour is added to the raw sugar mixture but following your tip, I read the 'how to' at the beginning of the book and added some extra flour and sugar to the crust before adding the filling. Think I may have found my new 'go to' pastry recipe and will definitely be making this pie again (and again!)

  • twoyolks on November 09, 2015

    I ended up underbaking the pie (it looked done but the apples weren't cooked through). The caramel flavor was only lightly present. There wasn't enough structure to hold the pie together when cut.

  • mrshalf on November 01, 2017

    I've made (and sold) quite a few of these beauties. After getting the caramel down, I've finally realized I can bake! Don't skip this one - it's the pie I'm the best at. Takes a long time for all the steps though!

  • DKennedy on November 27, 2017

    Susan made this pie and it was the most amazing pie I have EVER tasted, straight out of the oven.

  • nadiam1000 on November 23, 2018

    The only dessert for Thanksgiving 2018 and it was a winner! I have had this pie from the bakery and their crust was thicker and underdone which undermined the enjoyment. I have had good success with recipes from this book so I decided to make their signature pie for T-Day. I did get some boil-over which made the outside of my pie plate very sticky but luckily I had baked the pie on a parchment lined sheet pan. I baked on convection and should have lowered the temp 25 degrees (next time). I mixed the sugar, spice and flour into the apples. I let the apples drain for an hour, not the 20-30 mins recommended - I do not like a runny pie. Crust was flaky, beautifully browned and not soggy.

  • Smokeydoke on July 22, 2020

    I've cooked this pie a few times now, it's another winner, I love this book. I made it with their lard and butter crust, which is my go-to and I made the recipe for two 6” pies and it did overflow a bit. I made the caramel today but I forgot to put it in one pie (Duh) and it didn’t overflow. So it’s the caramel that makes it messy, but it’s also what makes it taste good. Photo of the pie without caramel included.

  • Rachaelsb on November 01, 2020

    Delicious!! So happy with this pie. Pie crust was perfect and so easy to work with. Caramel, it could be a meal in and of itself!!. Surprisingly this was not too sweet - the two lemons that apples soaked in make all the difference.

• Bourbon pear crumble pie

  • Foodo on January 28, 2014

    A lovely flavor!

• Salty honey pie

  • cespitler on December 04, 2016

    I cannot tell you how amazing the Salty Honey Pie is! I've made it twice and both times almost everyone went back for second servings immediately! You can grab the recipe here. I've been lucky enough to feature honey from my own hive. http://southbrooklynpost...pie-mavens-share-recipe/ And, for this year's work holiday party I made the Black Bottom Oatmeal Pie. Folks loved the black bottom, but the reviews were mixed. I may have made it too close to Thanksgiving so folks were coming off of family favorite Pecan Pies. I would make this again at a different time a year. Both of these called for the All-Butter Crust, which is a great recipe on it's own. It bakes up really nice and garnered its own compliments

  • bching on December 21, 2016

    So delicious. The honey custard has a beautiful texture and the salt on top makes a nice contrast. Unfortunately, crust was soggy but that won't stop me from making this pie again.

  • jenmacgregor18 on November 23, 2018

    I took this for Thanksgiving dinner and it was received well. I was worried it would be too sweet; so I shorted the granulated sugar by a couple tablespoons. Otherwise, I made as instructed. It is rich and sweet. I could only take a small piece I might short the sugar/honey a little bit more next time. But otherwise, My sister & I really enjoyed this. Note: My pie started to get a bit dark on top about 30 minutes into baking. I just covered it with foil for the rest of the baking time. No problem.

• Maple buttermilk custard pie

  • Astrid5555 on February 22, 2014

    Used grade C maple syrup for a more pronounced maple flavor. Nice custardy texture with a crunch from the cornmeal crust.

  • Emily Hope on October 13, 2020

    This was a miss for me. I made a couple of modifications that probably didn't help, though filling was made as written. Filling first: a bit too sweet, fatty (tongue coating), and grainy. It was also quite hard to tell when it was done -- I pulled as instructed when the middle was quite wobbly, and it didn't set until put in the fridge overnight. Crust: I'm not a fan of cornmeal in crusts (too gritty), so I used the all-butter crust in the book, using a processor instead of making it by hand (something I do all the time) and it turned out chewy and tough, with too pronounced a flavor from the cider vinegar. I used the upper end of the recommended amount of water, which probably didn't help. The blind bake (as instructed) left the bottom relatively pale, and the bottom of the crust didn't brown any more once the filling was added, leaving it chewy and flavorless. I've made many pie crusts, and this has to rank near the bottom--not a repeat.

• Pear anise pie

  • bching on February 19, 2026

    tasty but at the same time, not particularly special in spite of some fussy steps.

• Black walnut pie

  • bching on August 07, 2024

    mediocre results for the effort and clean up involved. Won't make again.

• Brown butter pumpkin pie

  • ricki on December 22, 2018

    Everyone loved this. Flavors are subtle and deep, with more pumpkin and butterscotch than spices. We didn't strain, and the texture was fine. Too much filling for my 11-cup Cuisinart; next time will mix by hand after blending the butterscotch into the pumpkin. Makes one very deep 9-inch pie; mine was not deep enough so used leftover filling in a 9" French tart pan, which cooked in about 25 minutes.

  • meggan on January 18, 2024

    For some reason my pie turned out looser than I like and had a bit of a strange sourness. Definitely very pumpkinny.

• Sliced sweet potato & apple crumble pie

  • stacymarkow on November 16, 2020

    Absolutely delicious. My favorite Four and Twenty pie I've made, so far.

• Black bottom oatmeal pie

  • cespitler on December 04, 2016

    I cannot tell you how amazing the Salty Honey Pie is! I've made it twice and both times almost everyone went back for second servings immediately! You can grab the recipe here. I've been lucky enough to feature honey from my own hive. http://southbrooklynpost...pie-mavens-share-recipe/ And, for this year's work holiday party I made the Black Bottom Oatmeal Pie. Folks loved the black bottom, but the reviews were mixed. I may have made it too close to Thanksgiving so folks were coming off of family favorite Pecan Pies. I would make this again at a different time a year. Both of these called for the All-Butter Crust, which is a great recipe on it's own. It bakes up really nice and garnered its own compliments.

  • Silver.bird22 on November 08, 2025

    Fine to good. Needs a really flaky crust to make up for the chewyness of the oats.

• Cranberry sage pie

  • bching on January 04, 2026

    My husband loved this pie filling. The crust went soft quickly, and the sage added a medicinal note.

• Egg 'n' grogg pie

  • lholtzman on February 25, 2026

    This pie is delicious and perfect for a holiday dessert. If you’re not afraid of breaking tradition, serve this in place of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. The pie is super easy to assemble, but the baking is a bit more complicated. It took about 1 hour and 10 minutes for the center to not be liquidy. I think part of this is because my dish was deeper and ceramic. They recommend using a metal pie plate. I used brandy in place of rum. It adds a nice, warm, boozy quality.

• Nectarine blueberry pie

  • anya_sf on July 11, 2018

    In the edition of this book I checked out from the library, this recipe did not call for any sugar or starch in the filling. However, others said their editions did, so I looked at similar recipes and decided to add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 3 Tbsp tapioca starch (I did not have arrowroot). I used extra fruit (probably 4 cups blueberries) as I had a deep-dish pie plate. The filling turned out well - very tasty, just the right sweetness. The crust was super flaky, although rather thick. Overall, the pie tasted very good, but I'm not sure I loved the allspice.

  • LauraMB on January 10, 2023

    I also added sugar and thickener to this recipe I used 3/4 cup sugar and instant Clearjel. The allspice is subtle. I enjoyed this pie.

• Lavender blueberry pie

  • LauraMB on January 10, 2023

    Very good.

• Bluebarb slab pie

  • Silver.bird22 on December 07, 2025

    Yummy. Unsurprisingly, couldn't taste rhubarb over the blueberry. Spices didn't overpower.

• Black & blueberry upside down pie

  • Lepa on March 21, 2020

    I made this as a regular pie (not upside down). The flavor is so unusual and delicious. It's a bit floral or herbal (think blueberry plus cardamom). We really loved this outstanding pie.

  • LauraMB on January 10, 2023

    Delicious pie. I did not serve it upside down.

• Sweet cherry streusel pie

  • Lepa on May 31, 2020

    We loved the filling of this pie but the streusel didn't brown properly. I made it in the food processor and I think making it by hand, with larger bits of butter, might have been a better idea. I was also surprised that the directions ask for a pre-baked crust, as it came out a bit dark and hard. Other fruit pies I have made didn't require a pre-baked crust and I'm not sure I'd do that next time. That said, this filling is really lovely.

• Sour cherry pie

  • Astrid5555 on July 29, 2015

    I have been wanting to make sour cherry pie for ages, so when I finally spotted some at the farmers' market yesterday I dove right in and picked up my favorite pie book. I used the book's "All-butter crust" recipe, which produces the flakiest crust ever and the final result did not disappoint. Despite the original tartness of the sour cherries, the filling is pleasantly sweet and in combination with the flaky crust a real winner! Will have to repeat next year!

  • bching on July 02, 2017

    I loved the flavor of the filling so much so that I plan to use this recipe again with next year's cherry crop--but it was runnier than I would like. I will reduce some of the juices after pitting next year. I used Peychaud's bitters (my favorite) instead of Angostura--either way, the bitters are a genius touch!

  • MarielRose on April 30, 2026

    Made for Pi day event at work! Couldn't find sour cherries so used frozen sweet cherries with a couple tablespoons of pomegranate molasses (tip from Mamushka). Crumble topping cause imo all pies need a crumble ??

• Rhuby razz square pie

  • nadiam1000 on April 06, 2015

    made the strawberry variation with 3 cups of strawberries - cut into 1/2" dice. Vey good. I want to try the raspberry variation while rhubarb is still in season.

  • cadfael on June 21, 2022

    Very tasty raspberry/rhubarb version

• Lemon verbena raspberry galette

  • lholtzman on November 05, 2025

    This is good, but I wish it had a bit more pop. I think adding a pinch of salt to the raspberry mixture would bring out the flavors more.

• Apple rose pie

  • hillsboroks on August 14, 2018

    What a lovely flavor combination and one I would not have thought of before I saw this recipe. I only added 2 tbls rose water and didn't tell my husband what made this pie smell and taste so good until after he had a piece. The rosewater really meld sin with the apple flavor to create a lovely harmony. Next time I will add the full amount of rosewater. Unless you have fairly sweet apples this recipe yields a not too sweet pie. I used some of our tart Gravensteins and next time will increase each sugar to 1/2 cup to compensate.

  • Apollonia on September 06, 2023

    Beautiful flavor, not overpowering in the slightest, and truly a lovely pie, but it came out quite wet. That's not necessarily the recipe's fault--- apples vary considerable in this regard--- but next time I'd use more flour or a different thickener. Otherwise a keeper!

  • pamacea on December 26, 2025

    Elevated apple pie!

• Wild ginger strawberry pie

  • Smokeydoke on June 15, 2020

    I really enjoyed this pie. The mixture of strawberry, apple and ginger is fantastic. The only reason I gave it 4.5 stars is the filling is too runny and it created the inevitable soggy bottom. I've gotta tweak the recipe so it won't do that, I'm thinking either a cobbler or not cooking the strawberries in the crust at all. Hmmm.... anyone? Photo included.

• Strawberry balsamic pie

  • Lepa on March 10, 2020

    This is a tasty pie! It's not too sweet and even questionable off -season supermarket strawberries taste good here. This is the first time I tried this crust. Next time I will add a few more minutes at the higher temperature so the bottom crust gets darker. The lattice was delicious- maybe the best part of the pie?

  • jsguaium on July 25, 2021

    Made this with swerve alt sugar, vegan butter and sour cream- did use eggs and mix of date sugar and real sugar for topping. Used half as much cane sugar for maceration - my berries had been frozen an I allowed to mostly thaw at room temp before quartering. It was a delicious pie and shape held up well after pie cooled. I agree that it needs more time in oven than recipe indicates, at least my oven. Bottom and top lattice could have used more browning. This is a keeper in my book, but I’ll hold out for the best strawberries of the season and freeze them.

  • LauraMB on January 10, 2023

    I loved this pie! It reminded me of a sour cherry pie. I used 4 tbsp. of instant Clearjel to thicken the filling. I will be making this again.

• All-butter crust

  • cespitler on December 04, 2016

    I cannot tell you how amazing the Salty Honey Pie is! I've made it twice and both times almost everyone went back for second servings immediately! You can grab the recipe here. I've been lucky enough to feature honey from my own hive. http://southbrooklynpost...pie-mavens-share-recipe/ And, for this year's work holiday party I made the Black Bottom Oatmeal Pie. Folks loved the black bottom, but the reviews were mixed. I may have made it too close to Thanksgiving so folks were coming off of family favorite Pecan Pies. I would make this again at a different time a year. Both of these called for the All-Butter Crust, which is a great recipe on it's own. It bakes up really nice and garnered its own compliments.

  • Astrid5555 on January 25, 2014

    Truth be told I have always been scared of baking pie. Will the dough crack when rolling it out, will it be flaky enough, will the bottom be soggy, will I like it after having spent a few hours preparing the pie? Finally, I found my dough! This recipe yields an incredibly flaky dough, easy to roll out and absolutely delicious. My new go-to recipe!

  • Melanie on May 31, 2014

    This crust worked pretty well although I was in a rush and had some difficulties rolling it out. I'll refrigerate overnight next time.

  • Rachaelsb on November 25, 2020

    Best all butter pie crust ever!

  • mrshalf on November 01, 2017

    I've practiced this pie crust recipe at least thirty times. I still wouldn't say it's perfect. The easiest I've found so far is the Milk Street no shrink recipe because it's food processor easy. This all butter one though - it's my nemesis. I'll make it perfectly one day, mwahahaha

  • Smokeydoke on June 15, 2020

    I don't really follow directions when it comes to pie crust, but saying that, I really like this pie crust. I used their ingredient list, but halved the vinegar and I made everything in the food processor, because I'm very picky about how I make my crust, like OCD, rage-inducing weird about it. Whatever I did, it was tasty! And I used about 3/4 the water called for, I never measure my water, I do it purely by touch. Added bonus: it's the first time I didn't make too much or too little.

• Cornmeal crust

  • Astrid5555 on February 22, 2014

    Another easy-to-work-with, foolproof pie crust with a nice crunch from the cornmeal.

• Oat crumble topping & crust

  • Astrid5555 on March 31, 2014

    Very quick and easy to work with. Makes a nice crunchy crust for custard pies.

  • hirsheys on June 22, 2019

    This worked out fine, but I found the spices a bit too strong. (I used it for the rhubarb custard pie.)

• Rhubarb custard pie

  • Astrid5555 on March 31, 2014

    Delicious pie for rhubarb fans! Loved how the vanilla-nutmeg custard perfectly complemented the tartness of the rhubarb. Because of the press-in crust one of the quickest pies ever. Would also be nice with the all-butter crust, though much more time and labor intensive.

  • hirsheys on June 12, 2019

    I have been obsessed with finding the perfect rhubarb custard pie recipe for a long time. This was very tasty, though it's still not quite the recipe I'm looking for. This baked up nicely and was quite good, though I was reminded, yet again, that I'm a purist about rhubarb. While I like rhubarb with vanilla and with lemon, I often feel that it gets overpowered by spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. If I were to do this one again, I'd use a normal blind-baked pastry crust and leave the nutmeg out of the custard. Also, it isn't the most attractive pie pre-slicing (and I forgot to take a picture once I sliced it!), though I think some pastry decorations on top would look pretty.

• Black bottom lemon pie

  • Astrid5555 on March 18, 2018

    I really loved the chocolate and Meyer lemon combination. However I had some issues with my filling not setting properly in the center of the pie so it resembled a lemon lake in the middle. I think I made a mistake when incorporating the lemon and orange juices into the egg & sugar mixture, which was very liquid after mixing everything together.

  • trudys_person on February 27, 2015

    I thought this might be a strange combination, but it is wonderful! I made it with a fruity 65% dark chocolate (Cacao Barry Inaya), and the balance was perfect.

  • EmilyR on June 17, 2018

    I've been to Four + Twenty in Brooklyn and it's excellent. I have a lot of meyer lemons so this recipe seemed fitting. It was a good recipe, but not one that I'll crave or likely make again. I reduced the sugar by 1/3 cup, which may have slightly altered the consistency, but I didn't want it to be overly sweet. There was a bit left over for some ramekins of custard.

• Maple lime custard pie

  • mtlevinson on January 25, 2014

    Would love to know why this tasty sounding recipe was only about a 4/5 on a 1-10 scale? The bakery makes their own pecan biscotti for the crust but in their cookbook, they have you use lady fingers, pecans and butter. Pretty bland and the filling was not robust enough for my taste.

• Green chili chocolate pie

  • clkandel on March 15, 2022

    Rich, chocolate and delicious. Not overly sweet, which is a huge bonus. Made this using lemon peppers instead of jalapenos.

• Rhubarb pie

  • AlyssafromRhody on May 23, 2020

    Simple but wonderful - the cardamom is great. I made this with their cornmeal crust instead of their all butter crust and would highly recommend it.

  • lholtzman on June 02, 2026

    I love a rhubarb pie. This one is excellent. Tart and sweet with punch of cardamom. Frozen rhubarb works perfectly.

• Gingersnap crumb crust

  • lholtzman on February 25, 2026

    I made this crust for the Egg ‘n’ Grogg pie. It’s a snap to assemble and bake. I forgot to whisk the egg white with water so my crust ended up tasting a bit off. Don’t make my mistake. Nobody complained, but the finished product could have been so much better.

• Everyday Annie

  ...it is a treasure, both in inspiring, unique recipes and lovely photos. Perfect for the baker in your life.

  Full review

• Serious Eats

  For its thought-provoking combinations of ingredients and straightforward, educative tone, (it) is a worthwhile selection for both novice and seasoned pie-makers seeking to expand their repertoire.

  Full review