• 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

• All-buttah pie dough

  • 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!

  • Astrid5555 on January 04, 2021

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

  • DFarnham on November 26, 2023

    Best recipe ever! Triple recommend Erin's Youtube video.

  • jsguaium on January 05, 2024

    I recently made 6 (!) recipes of this a class I held for a couple of friends on how to make pie. They came out beautifully - used for both chicken pot pie and blueberry pie.

  • EatinSnax on March 26, 2025

    This recipe (and the beginning chapters of this book) really helped me turn a corner with my pie crusts. I was so worried about producing too much gluten with the folding, but trusted the process and was rewarded with a flakey, sturdy-yet-cuts-with-a-fork crust.

  • et12 on October 18, 2025

    Turns out I’ve been over mixing my pie crust dough all my life, but the instructions (and photos) that come at the beginning of this book have changed my approach. This is the first dough recipe I made and it was delicious. Really buttery and nicely flaky and crispy.

• Chocolate all-buttah pie dough

  • Hansyhobs on January 17, 2022

    I made this (rough puff style) for the blood orange brulee galette. It didn't puff as much as I was hoping it would but that could have been because the oven wasn't hot enough, I let the dough get too soft during lamination. I added a teaspoon of activated charcoal to make it extra dark.

• Vanilla bean-nutmeg pie dough

  • Hansyhobs on January 09, 2022

    The vanilla bean seeds were quite difficult to mix with the flour. I made this for the rhubarb pie but honestly I don't think you can taste the added flavouring in the pastry

• Graham flour pie dough

  • jsguaium on November 27, 2022

    I’m an experienced baker, including pies, but my crust leaked quite a bit. I’ll try again, as I wasn’t as focused as I should have been maybe. I made this variation for an Apple pie- it browned nicely, even in Pyrex pie plate, and flavor good considering the butter leakage. I think I do prefer a crust with some sugar, so I’ll add some next time.

• Cornmeal pie dough

  • abrownb1 on July 07, 2024

    Very easy to make. Turns out a mealy crust with a little texture. The corn flavor doesn't really come through once paired with a filling so it's really more of a textural addition.

  • EatinSnax on March 26, 2025

    Agree with other comment that this produces a change in texture rather than flavor. It made a crust that was more tender, and less sturdy/flakey. It held its shape beautifully though and browned well. I found it easy to work with.

• Rye pie dough

  • Hansyhobs on January 23, 2022

    Definitely noticed the lack of gluten from the rye flavour and was a bit harder to roll out. Used the dough for the rhubarb pie topped with meringue, delicious but don't think I noticed the flavour of the rye as the pie has a lot going on.

• Hot-water crust

  • meginyeg on December 21, 2022

    Really wasn't that easy to work with. Going to stick with traditional from now on.

• 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.

• Basic crumb crust

  • hirsheys on April 17, 2021

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

  • coryelizabeth on May 02, 2022

    I made this with Lorna Doone shortbread cookies and wound up with too much butter, not enough crumb. To be fair, she warns this is a possibility with this recipe and that bakers should beware of the crust seems imbalanced.

  • Pandan on July 23, 2024

    I tried this with leftover homemade shortbread cookies, which already were quite buttery. I used less butter but the crust still was too moist. Added more cookies but the crust didn’t hold together. The finished pie with cherries and quark was more like pie filling with crumbs. I guess this recipe works better with store bought cookies and Graham crackers which unfortunately I am not able to get in Germany.

  • ginarae on March 15, 2026

    Very well balanced, this crust (made with graham crackers) held together well, and it was easy to slice through!

• 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.

• 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.

  • pattyatbryce on March 17, 2026

    Excellent. Use full sugar if on a lower-sweet dish to sweeten it up or consider cutting the sugar a bit if you are putting on something on the sweeter side.

• 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.

• Meringue topping

  • Hansyhobs on January 23, 2022

    SO DELICIOUS! I made this topping (mile-high version) for the rhubarb pie and not only is it nice and easy to put together but the end result if so perfectly marshmallowy

• Fruity meringue topping

  • IdleExpatter on March 16, 2026

    This was a complete failure for me. I've made meringue enough times that I'm reasonably confident in my ability to pull it off, but this recipe didn't work at all: I ended up with something more akin to an industrial-strength epoxy than a fluffy and marshmallowy meringue. I followed the recipe to the precise gram and the exact degree, and made sure all of my equipment was squeaky clean, so I'm really not sure what went wrong except my suspicion that the freeze-dried raspberries bound it up. I'm leaving my review at 2 stars rather than 1 to account for the fact that it would well have been my error rather than the recipe's, but I can't say I'm eager to repeat it to find out.

• 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!

• 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.

• 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.

  • Hansyhobs on January 09, 2022

    I made this with vanilla and nutmeg rough puff. I messed up the pastry a little as I didn't add enough water to begin with, but it turned out OK. Forced rhubarb was still quite tart but I liked it. Also, I didn't have enough rhubarb so the filling was a little lacking but honestly, end result was very tasty.

  • hillsboroks on May 19, 2024

    The flavor of this rhubarb pie is just what you want in a good rhubarb pie, a bit tart and sweet with the rhubarb taste shining through. I baked my pie the full 55 minutes at 400 F and was disappointed at first while the pie was still a bit warm to find it had not thickened properly. But after it fully cooled overnight the pie was thickened perfectly.

• 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.

  • DFarnham on November 26, 2023

    This was a really sweet pie. Despite precooking the filling, the pie was still really runny and the sweetness over-shadowed the apples. I even used a slotted spoon when filling the crust as I was concerned this could be the case. We prefer a simpler apple pie. I did the All Buttah double crust and it was laminated perfection. Repeat the crust, but not the filling.

  • louisa_hz5w6d on May 25, 2026

    A pie that you can really make your own to suit your tastes!

• My own personal apple pie

  • jsguaium on November 27, 2022

    I liked dicing the apples instead of slicing, but I didn’t enjoy the cinnamon flavor. I found it too cinnamon forward, made as directed. I’ll try this recipe again, but change up the add ins.

  • LauraMB on March 17, 2024

    I’ve made this recipe twice. My husband and I love it. I like the flavor that the dark brown sugar adds, and I don’t find it to have too much cinnamon. I use the all buttah crust and laminate it for a very flaky crust.

• Mixed-berry hand pies

  • jmohart on March 08, 2026

    Wonderful! The cinnamon seemed a little strong when I first finished the filling, but once baked into the pies it was fine. I only had the patience to make a few little pies. The second disc of dough got made into a galette.

• 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)

• Blueberry lemon pie

  • abrownb1 on July 07, 2024

    Excellent blueberry pie! I was a little skeptical about blending the whole lemon and vanilla bean, but it contributed to a really complex and deep flavor to the filling. It's a bit more work than a usual fruit pie but it paid off and received many compliments. I made the cornmeal crust and leftovers kept well for 2 days in the fridge. It was best on the first day but was good both cold and reheated (followed the directions in the book) after being refrigerated.

• 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.

• Blood orange brûlée pie

  • Hansyhobs on January 17, 2022

    Despite some issues with the pastry, this was delicious and I would absolutely make it again. I love blood oranges!

• 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.

• 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.

  • mklasan on January 26, 2026

    Reduce lemon juice when blueberries aren’t available locally and taste more tart than during summer.

• Pumpkin pie

  • Emily Hope on November 28, 2022

    This was a fine pumpkin pie but a little too heavy on the spices for our taste (and I toned down the cloves to 1/4 teaspoon) and not especially memorable. Took longer than the indicated time to bake, but we just got a new oven so that may have been the issue. Would be interested to try the variation with marscarpone (and fiddle with the spice ratio) but wouldn't repeat the main recipe. Used a crust from Pie Camp.

  • DFarnham on November 26, 2023

    I agree with Emily, the spices were a little too heavy. I will not repeat this one.

  • et12 on November 02, 2025

    A decent pumpkin pie.

• Caramel chai custard pie in shortbread crumb crust

  • coryelizabeth on May 02, 2022

    The batter for the chai custard was insanely delicious, like liquid gingerbread. However, I followed the recipe's recommended cooking time and visual cues for doneness, and once my pie cooled, the custard turned out to be overdone. Additionally, the caramel sauce made the pie incredibly sweet, almost inedibly so -- and I say this as someone who enjoys Christina Tosi recipes.

• Birthday-cake pie

  • caillahess on March 15, 2026

    Made in a regular butter pie crust because a crumb crust seemed way too sweet. My pie sunk a ton after I took it out of the oven, hard to tell from the photos but I don't think it was supposed to deflate that much. Still had a lighter texture and tasted great. I also used the exact sprinkles she recommends and all the ones mixed in to the batter sunk to the bottom.

• 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.

• Apricot clafoutis pie

  • jessica_t9xln6 on May 15, 2026

    This is actually originally Cherry Clafoutis Pie in the book with one of the variations being most other fruits including apricot. But helped me find the recipe I wanted!!

• Creamy lemon custard pie

  • hillsboroks on December 19, 2023

    The lemon flavor really zings in this pie. I cheated by using Bonne Mamam lemon curd but when the baked custard, lemon curd and whipped cream all come together it is wonderful. I set my timer for 40 minutes and the custard was way too watery so I gave it an extra 5 minutes which was a couple of minutes too long and the custard cracked. Next time I will try 42 minutes and also check the temperature. I checked online and custard is set at 170F.

• 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.

• Classic Key lime pie

  • ginarae on March 15, 2026

    Not too sweet, not too tart, and so silky!

• Peanut butter cream pie with raspberry meringue

  • IdleExpatter on March 16, 2026

    Mixed success here. I made the "nut butter" variant of her suggested press-in cookie crust, which was excellent. The peanut butter cream is also great, and very easy to make. But the raspberry meringue was a complete failure for me (I reviewed that recipe separately). I adjusted with a chocolate ganache topping instead, which - as adaptations go - is far from a tragedy! But reader beware on that meringue. May you have better luck than I did!

• 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.

• Grapefruit meringue pie

  • Astrid5555 on March 20, 2022

    Used the polenta crust which provided a great textural contrast to the curd and meringue. Despite the tanginess from the grapefruit curd, this pie was quite sweet. I think I prefer lemons over other citrus fruits in meringue pies/tarts.

• Rhubarb meringue pie

  • Hansyhobs on January 23, 2022

    Delicious! I made this with the rye pastry but I didn't notice the nuance. Really should have left this to cool down 100% but I couldn't resist so the filling was a bit saucy. Meringue topping is incredible and I really need to buy a blow torch.

• "Root beer float" baked Alaska pie

  • jimandtammyfaye on July 04, 2022

    Visually stunning dessert that turned out to look as beautiful as the one in the book. The root beer syrup, both times I made it, took longer than an hour to condense and somehow seemed to lose its "root beeriness," although the syrup itself was still delicious. I used the brown butter cookie crust. The highlight of the pie was the mile-high meringue swirled to a point and artistically torched.

• Green veggie quiche

  • sharone7 on June 14, 2021

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

  • MakeMyHay on February 04, 2022

    Super delicious. Didn’t have asparagus so increased the quantities of spinach and peas. Made with the Golden Cheese Pie Dough which was fantastic - crispy, flaky, cheesy.

  • et12 on October 18, 2025

    This was such a good , well seasoned quiche. Made mine with asparagus, potato, broccoli and celery. Used the all buttah pie dough recipe from this book and served with fresh seasoned tomatoes.

  • IdleExpatter on March 15, 2026

    Really, really, really good quiche. Used the "all buttah" crust and it came out beautifully. My only alteration was tossing a little salt and pepper in with the veggies as they cooked. Great result!

  • kristinanddoug_2axrp9 on April 06, 2026

    Thanks to all the previous reviewers who encouraged me to try this recipe. They weren’t wrong. The flavors were lovely and this receipt was a home run for Easter brunch.

  • kristinanddoug_2axrp9 on April 06, 2026

    Perfect for Easter brunch. Baked in a cast iron skillet.