Notes about Recipes in this book

• Samantha Bee's salty caramel pie

  • Rutabaga on December 05, 2016

    I really liked the concept of this pie, but the final product needs some tweaks. The caramel filling is incredibly sweet. Fortunately, the unsweetened pretzel crust and the dark chocolate ganache helped cut the sweetness, but in my opinion it still wasn't enough. It's the honey that does it. I used a clover honey, as that's what I had on hand, but a darker, deeper honey would likely be a much better fit. Even with only half a cup of honey, I found it overwhelming. Plus, it was very goopy and gooey, even once set. With a firm, more nuanced caramel filling, this pie could really be great.

• Toasted coconut cream pie

  • robinelizabethleslie on July 05, 2014

    Solid recipe, but in my opinion it lacked some flavor. The texture was very good and the salty classic crust was the perfect vehicle for the creamy sweet coconut custard.

  • sullivmi on June 20, 2015

    My seven year old couldn't get enough of this coconut pie!

• Candy apple pie

  • texannewyorker on October 17, 2017

    I gave it two stars because the crust is one of the best I've tasted and the dough was so cooperative to work with. Otherwise, this pie is disastrous. The candy topping is so hard to work with, and once it hardens, it's nearly impossible to cut a neat slice. Also, the pie filling is SO liquidy!!! After doing some research I *think* it's because there is no thickener in the filling (flour, cornstarch, etc.). The cooking time seems on par with every other double crust apple pie recipe I found. I did let it cool about 4 hours. The flavor of the filling is excellent though. But, this goes into my Official Baking FAIL category, sadly.

• Peanut-caramel-apple pie

  • lkgrover on November 26, 2023

    Excellent apple pie with homemade caramel, peanuts & peanut butter; loved by everyone who tried it at my friend's Thanksgiving dinner. I made a butter crust instead of using lard.

• Bourbon-ginger-pecan pie

  • sullivmi on June 20, 2015

    I skipped the fresh ginger and just added the ground ginger. That was enough warming ginger flavour without being overpowering. This pie tastes better the next day, when the flavours have mingled.

  • babyfork on November 16, 2015

    David Lebovitz made this and tweaked the recipe a bit. He recommends the Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon. Gotta try this one for Thanksgiving!

• Pumpkin spice pie

  • trudys_person on October 13, 2014

    An excellent pumpkin pie with assertive spices. Took more time to bake than indicated in the recipe - close to 50 minutes with the pie pan on a double layer cookie sheet. Not much danger of the filling getting rubbery because there is only one egg in it.

• Cranberry dream pie

  • trudys_person on October 13, 2014

    Very good pie - nice change for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. I made it with 4 eggs, so I would have lots of meringue. Put all 4 yolks in the filling. Easy to make

• Key lime pie

  • rmorse on January 06, 2018

    This was delicious (and I am wondering why I don't make key lime pie more often, this might have been my first one). I have dozens of key lime pies in my library and they all appear to be very similar, so similar that I don't think that I will even bother trying to find the "best" one.

• Chocolate chestnut pie

  • rmorse on December 12, 2017

    I do not typically love chocolate pies, but this was fantastic (good texture and well balanced flavours). I have added this to my list for Christmas deserts (although it was my first time cooking with chestnuts, and I am hoping that it gets easier with practice).

• Eggnog cream pie

  • rmorse on December 12, 2017

    Delicious (although the crumb crust was a bit fiddly, next time I would just use store bought ginger cookies).

• Jay's apple cider cream pie

  • meggan on November 28, 2021

    This was the thanksgiving favorite this year. I overdid the cinnamon in the cream. It was a very interesting taste and many thought it was coconut pie.

• Fine Cooking

  ...infused with her companionable tone, boundless enthusiasm, and infectious confidence. ...lavishly photographed recipes...there's something yummy for every season, occasion, mood, and skill level...

  Full review

• Serious Eats

  First Prize Pies is a straight-up pie book, and it doesn't need to be anything more. It's organized by month, which means seasonal ingredients are highlighted, as well as seasonal cravings.

  Full review