The Book On Pie: Everything You Need to Know to Bake Perfect Pies ― A NYT Bestselling Cookbook of Flaky Crusts and Flawless Fillings

Erin Jeanne McDowell · ★★★★★

I got obsessed with pie this summer after a trip to California's Santa Rosa, where fresh fruit pies are sold everywhere and they are so, soooo good. Shout out to the best blackberry pie I've ever had at Sam's For Play Cafe where Sam makes her pies fresh daily (and they always run out). Fruit pies the like of which you would find in Sonoma County are not common in Spain, certainly not Asturias where I've never encountered one. So when I got back home I decided it was my mission to practice or baking enough to be able to have one whenever I felt the mood strike. With the help of this book, which is nothing short of encouraging and informative, I did just that. I got really comfortable with all butter crusts and stopped using vodka as a crutch to combat moisture in the mix. I felt free to experiment with flavors both in the pie and in combination with the crust. Honestly? The blueberry lemon pie in a vanilla nutmeg shell was a revelation. I managed to come up with a great copy (based on memory) of that blackberry pie I had in America as well as the peach raspberry I had from Noble Folk. This fall I plan on making a lot of pie. Dutch apple, pecan, cinnamon plum, black forest, lemon merengue... I'm going to give my tirzepatide a run for it's money. And I feel like there's nothing in the way of my doing this since my technique had been patiently grounded in Erin Jeanne McDowell's clear and enthusiastic instruction. What more could you want from a baking book?