• yellowbird531 on April 05, 2021

  This book is layed out in a way that is extremely difficult to follow. A ton of information but you will be flipping back and forth multiple times for every recipe. It seems like many of the recipes were not tested... had issues with the way the instructions asked me to make lemon curd (even though I know better, I followed and ended up with scrambled eggs) and things like not tempering chocolate before incorporating. Bake times seem consistently way off. Great ideas and flavor inspirations, but the recipes and execution need work.

• tarae1204 on November 26, 2020

  My actual cooking times for pumpkin mascarpone pie and chocolate sugar pie (p 232) are taking longer than what is stated in the book (my oven thermometer confirms correct oven temp). McDowell published a chocolate mint sugar pie recipe on food52 on 9/25/20 that has some significant differences: https://www.google.com/amp/s/food52.com/recipes/84007-mint-chocolate-chip-sugar-pie-recipe/amp. That more recent recipe uses different proportion cream and milk, chopped chocolate instead of cocoa powder, and a longer bake time. I wonder if this would fix the problems I’m having with chocolate sugar pie in the book. Fantastic results using her approach to pie crust making!! Very flaky.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Fruity frangipane pie

  • Emily Hope on July 19, 2021

    Made this to celebrate getting some nice apricots from the farmer's market (plus a handful of blueberries), made with an almond frangipane I added a couple of noyeaux to. Overall we liked it, though I never thought a dessert would make me ask myself: is there such a thing as too much frangipane? There is a significant amount of it here, more than would be in a free-form galette or pastry. Not necessarily a bad thing, just something to note. Given the flavor profile + the rough puff pastry crust, this reads to me almost like a large-format breakfast pastry, and I think it would be a welcome addition to a brunch menu. The filling components are pretty easy to put together, but the rough puff is a bit fiddly (though obvs not as fiddly as real puff pastry would be!) It's not complicated, but you do have to manage the process over a couple of hours. Can't argue with the resulting crust, though, which was flaky and delicious.

• All-buttah pie dough

  • Astrid5555 on January 04, 2021

    Can only repeat Lepa’s comment. Watch the youtube video as well and you will have pie crust perfection!

  • Lepa on December 13, 2020

    I made my best pie crust ever with this recipe. I can't figure out if it was the recipe or Erin's youtube video that shows how to tell when the dough is properly hydrated. This is something I have struggled with in the past. This crust was flaky perfection and I was so proud of it!

• Mascarpone whipped cream

  • abrownb1 on April 26, 2021

    Wow this is good! I may never make normal whipped cream again. Delicious on top of a berry crumble. Half the amount of sugar was plenty sweet for me so ymmv.

• Brown butter press-in cookie crust

  • abrownb1 on August 05, 2021

    Easy to make but had to add an extra 2 tbsp of water to get the smooth consistency. Brown butter has less water in it from the cooking process so I feel like that should have been noted in the recipe but nonetheless tasty. I made mini pies in a muffin tin and probably will go for 10 shells next time as opposed to the 12 noted as it was a little thin (possibly only an issue w the brown butter crust though). If making fruit mini pies, no need to par bake per Erin's IG. 350 for 30-35 mins.

• Streusel for baking

  • abrownb1 on August 05, 2021

    Super easy to whip up and tasty. I froze some to use another time so will report back on how it works out!

• Whipped cream sauce

  • abrownb1 on August 06, 2021

    Out of vanilla ice cream but your favorite topping is the melted pockets of melted ice cream? Make this. Takes less than a min to throw together an individual portion and satisfies the craving.

• Stone fruit-berry pie

  • abrownb1 on August 05, 2021

    Only made plum filling and it was very tasty. Plums are super juicy and break down more quickly so next time may shorten cooking time to get some chunks as it ended up as more of a smooth jam consistency. Perfect amount of thickening. Used press in brown butter cookie crust to make mini pies (muffin size) topped with streusel. 350 for 30-35 mins (no need to par bake per Erin's IG)

• Peanut butter-banana cream pie

  • hirsheys on March 25, 2021

    Made this for Steff for her birthday with a press-in cookie crust. She really liked it, though we decided it could have used a bit more salt (a different crust?) I felt more banana would have been nice - maybe a layer on the bottom and then on the top? Also, I always go half as sweet on the whipped cream in this book and will keep doing that - otherwise pies are too sweet.

• Key lime-coconut cream pie

  • hirsheys on March 14, 2021

    This came out tasty, though I will fiddle with it if I make it again. I made a graham cracker crust and used about half a batch of whipped cream, which I sweetened only halfway (and next time, I'd leave out the sugar in the whipped cream entirely). There's some discrepancy in the volume and weight measurements for the key lime pie recipe, so I just used volumes - I ended up using a full can of sweetened condensed milk. The key lime overpowers the coconut, so it's worth seeing if there's a way to increase that flavor (coconut in the crust? all coconut milk in the custard?) and I'd also like to figure out a way to get rid of the pieces of coconut, because I don't love that texture. ETA: the coconut flavor is stronger after a day or two.

• Basic crumb crust

  • hirsheys on April 17, 2021

    Good crust. Used graham crackers in Coconut lime pie. Could have used a bit more butter.

• Grapefruit curd

  • tarae1204 on January 23, 2021

    I made this recipe for grapefruit curd using pink grapefruit juice. Its tasty but not very firm. I think its odd that it called for four egg yolks and no full eggs. Pretty much every curd recipe calls for a combo of egg yolks and full eggs. No harm in using a tried and true curd recipe (maybe not this one) if you want to continue with one of her wonderful looking curd based pie recipes.

• Apple pie

  • Lepa on December 13, 2020

    The apples here are in a spicy caramel sauce. You have to let the apples sit for forty-five minutes and then cook them before adding them to the crust and baking the pie. It was good and my family raved about it but I think I prefer a plainer apple pie where I can taste the fruit more and that doesn't have all the fiddly steps.

• Basic nut crust

  • khopkins1012 on January 10, 2021

    This was easier to make than a traditional flour-based crust. I used pecan chips that didn’t even need to be chopped. We enjoyed the deep, toasty flavor of this crust.

• Any-fruit crumb crostata

  • j.va on March 04, 2021

    Great concept that's delicious in execution. I used blueberries and they worked perfectly, setting up enough to hold together when sliced, but not so much so that it felt gelled. The crust directly under the fruit gets soft by day 2, so try to eat this the day of or the day after for the best structural integrity.

• Blueberry swamp pie

  • taste24 on April 05, 2021

    Out of this world pie. My dad, who is usually a chocolate/caramel/nut kind of guy, said this is best pie he has ever eaten. I made the crust in the food processor, let it chill overnight, and par-baked the next day (about 15 hours before I baked the full pie). It was a breeze to roll out and par-bake - her pictures on over/under done par-baked shells was really helpful. The filling was really easy to put together. It has the perfect amount of lemon blueberry goodness, the custard lent a great creaminess, and the streusel on top tied it all together perfectly. Will be making this one over and over.

• Triple-chocolate caramel truffle pie

  • taste24 on October 07, 2021

    I was expecting to love this pie, and just didn't. It is GOOD.. don't get me wrong. But it is almost too 'one note'. Perhaps that is why she has you put the chocolate crispies on top (which I did not do). The filling was a little too rich for me as well. Also - I used Kraft wrapped caramels for the filling, but wish I would have gotten Werther's to melt down.

• Brown sugar chess pie

  • MollyBelle on February 14, 2021

    Wow! I was sure this recipe wouldn't turn out when I added the milk. Very thin. Took longer to bake but came out a winner! Made with all-butter crust and under-whipped cream. Loved it.

• Pure rhubarb pie

  • sharone7 on June 11, 2021

    Made with half strawberries since that's what I had. It was fabulous. I'm going to make it again this week.

• Green veggie quiche

  • sharone7 on June 14, 2021

    beautiful texture and fresh flavors. This was a hit and it disappeared almost immediately.