The Pie and Pastry Bible

By Rose Levy Beranbaum

"Pie crust is nothing more than a giant cookie"
...Rose Levy Beranbaum

Rose Levy Beranbaum's pie and pastry odyssey began more than two decades ago. Like many a home cook before her, she set out to make a pie crust on her own. Little did she realize, the research for The Pie and Pastry Bible had begun. She later went on a strudel pilgrimage to Austria, a fact-finding Danish mission to Denmark, and traveled and studied throughout France, Switzerland, Hungary and Germany. She brought back the knowledge of how to create some of the greatest pies and pastries on the planet and began translating her findings for the American home cook. The result is one of the most accessible, thoroughly tested and comprehensive books on the subject.

The Pie and Pastry Bible will do for pies and pastries what Rose's best-selling Cake Bible did for cakes. In the clear, easy-to-follow Rose Levy Beranbaum-style The Pie and Pastry Bible features 315 recipes for both sweet and savory creations including pies, tarts, quiches, puff pastry, brioche, strudel, danish, scones, biscuits, fillings, and ice creams.

This is the book that will refine and redefine the classic American pie, keeping all its homey charm while using modem techniques to transform pies into 3-star desserts. An exciting chapter shows every aspect of making a crust from how to blend and measure flours to rolling, cutting, shaping, and blind baking. Here are a few: classic Pate Brisee, shortening, lard, goose fat, beef suet and cheddar cheese crust for savory fillings, cookie crumb crusts and even a peanut butter crust. Each recipe has clear instructions on how to make it in the food processor—a method that insures speed and cooler temperatures—or by hand. The Perfect Flaky & Tender Cream Cheese Pie Crust—a recipe Rose tested over 50 times—is the heart and soul of the book. Rose fills these delectable crusts with fruit, chocolate and nuts, chiffon, custards, and ice creams and suggests pairings with complimentary crusts. Savory pies, tarts and quiches include chicken pot pies, empanadas, and meatloaf in a cheddar cheese crust.

The best pastry, says Beranbaum, is made at home, because it benefits from the complete attention of the cook. The Pie and Pastry Bible demystifies all the secrets of pastry making, bringing fillo, strudel, puff pastry, croissant, Danish and brioche into the home kitchen. Three ingredients common to them all—flour, liquid (water or milk) and fat (usually butter) are simply used in different proportions and handled in different ways from recipe to recipe. Clear instructions, illustrations and explaining or "understanding" of the pastry process takes the home cook step-by-step through an extraordinary personal baking lesson: a classic Napoleon made with quick puff pastry, Apricot Tartlets with Almond Cream; Whole Wheat Croissants, Salmon Wellington, Profiterole, and Apple Streusel Strudel, made in both the traditional way and with store-bought fillo.

Throughout The Pie and Pastry Bible, Rose Levy Beranbaum works her magic on all the classics as well as innovative, brilliantly imaginative creations like Holiday Cranberry Window Pie, Brownie Puddle and Love of Three Oranges tarts, Frozen Lime and Black Forrest chiffon pies, Grand Canyon and Lemon Pucker pies; Banana Split and Brandied Mincemeat ice cream pies; Tiramisu Black Bottom Tart; Cordon Rose Cream Puff Pastry and a Cherry Cheese Strudel.

The chapter on fillings and toppings reads like a luscious dream: perfect whipped creams; pastry cream with variations from praline crunch to white chocolate; fruit curds; Meringues; and sugar-glazed nuts. The Sauces and Glazes chapter begins with hot fudge and takes cooks through caramel, raspberry, strawberry, vanilla and coffee custard sauces. Chapters on Techniques, Equipment, Ingredients and a source listing complete the book.

The Pie and Pastry Bible
By Rose Levy Beranbaum
Scribner/Simon & Schuster
Hardback,315 recipes, $ 35.00
ISBN: 0-684-81348-3
Information provided by the publisher.