Product Description

Pie-baking made easy.

What could be better than a fresh summer pie brimming with sweet ripe fruit, or a steaming chicken pot pie? Baking a homemade pie from scratch is surprisingly easy with Julie Hasson's guidance, and the results are rewarding.

The Complete Book of Pies is like having your grandmother in the kitchen with you. The entire pie-making process is covered in easy-to-follow detail from start to finish. The book is filled with hundreds of recipes for fruit, cream and savory pies along with dozens of special tips and time-saving shortcuts to help make pie-baking a breeze. There are tips for making dough and rolling it; ideas for decorative pie tops; and quick and easy alternatives to pastry dough.

These luscious recipes are among the many that are sure to please:

• Apple cranberry spice crumb pie, brown sugar apple pie with almond crumb topping
• Blueberry pie, boysenberry pie, bumbleberry crumb pie, peach pie, sour cherry pie
• White chocolate key lime pie, chocolate cream pie, butterscotch cream pie, coconut cream pie
• Chocolate chip pecan pie, rum pecan pie, chocolate truffle tart, chocolate peanut butter mousse pie
• Caramelized onion, thyme and olive tart, quiche lorraine, chicken pot pie with mushrooms and leeks.

Both the novice and experienced baker will benefit from the author's extensive baking expertise. Sixteen pages of color photographs and extensive illustrations provide baking guidance and inspiration. The Complete Book of Pies is a basic reference for any home baker.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81107 in Books
• Brand: Julie Hasson
• Published on: 2008-08-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Features

• What could be better than a fresh summer pie brimming with sweet ripe fruit, or a steaming chic...
• 272 pages, softcover
• Dimensions: 10"H × 7"W

Review
Baking a pie from scratch can be surprisingly easy by following Julie's step-by-step instructions and fail-safe recipes. (Larry Cox Tucson Citizen )

[For] experienced cooks who want new ideas and newcomers who want to try making pie. (Sue Story Truax Omaha World-Herald )

Baking a homemade pie from scratch is surprisingly easy with Julie Hasson's guidance and expert know-how. (We Taste Cincinnati online )

About the Author

Julie Hasson is a chef, cookbook author and Internet television host. Her articles and recipes have been featured in magazines. This is her fifth cookbook, others include 125 Best Cupcake Recipes and 300 Best Chocolate Recipes.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

What could be better than a fresh summer fruit pie, brimming with sweet ripe fruit? Not much, as far as I'm concerned. I've learned over the years, though, that people say they are either a pie person or a cake person. Period. Well, I can definitely say that I'm a pie person. I'm also a cake person, an ice cream person, a chocolate person and a cupcake person. Do I really have to choose just one dessert?

Although I've always loved eating pies, my passion for baking them goes back to when I was first married. My husband's cousin Jill would bake the most fabulous pies. She always made it seem so easy, casually tossing together sliced apples with cinnamon and sugar, mounding them into a perfectly crimped pastry shell. The thing that was so amazing to me was not that her pies were utterly delicious (which they were) but that she was so easygoing about the whole pie-making process. This became the root of my pie inspiration.

My first homemade pie was a peach one. Our backyard peach tree was so full of fruit that the poor branches were hanging on the ground. I then moved on to apples, buying cases at a time. I dragged my husband (and later, children) to every U-pick farm that I could find. I was ready with buckets in hand as each fruit came into season. What I learned was that a fruit pie is only as good as the fruit that you use. I also discovered that it's so much fun to pick the fruit yourself (and much more economical, too). Pie baking became my therapy.

When the opportunity arose for me to write a book on pies, I jumped at the chance. I wanted to show that pie making is not only fun but easy, too. Threaded throughout this book you will find all sorts of tips and shortcuts for making pies, as well as recipes for ice cream pies and toppings, glazes and sauces, just in case you want to take your pies to a whole new level. There's even a chapter on savory pies, including many created by cookbook author Judith Finlayson. Special features throughout the book include logos highlighting classic pies, from apple to pumpkin, and vegan-friendly ones, too.

After baking literally hundreds and hundreds of pies, I've selected my favorite recipes for this book. I encourage you to go pick some fresh fruit, put on your apron, get out your rolling pin and start baking. And then, just maybe, you will find yourself becoming a pie person, too.

-- Julie Hasson

Customer Reviews

another great book from Julie Hasson
Anyone interested in food should be following the books, TV appearances, and internet cooking shows of Julie Hasson. What a treat to have a whole book of her amazing pie recipes! I appreciate the fact that many of the recipes are vegan-friendly (and are marked as such) for those of us interested in vegan cooking, or who want to make delicious pie for a friend or family member who is vegan or watching their cholesterol. Regardless of whether you are vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore, there are many pies for you here!

Pies, Oh Pies!!
I was fortunate enough to have been a tester of some of the recipes (namely, the vegan ones), and I can tell you that they are most excellent! During the testing phase, I would make a couple pies a week and take them to work, where they were devoured by my co-workers! Whether you're looking to make a pie just because, for a potluck, a family gathering, or whatever the occasion may be, these pies will stand the test, impressing people of all dietary persuasions. And if you haven't already done so, do check out Julie's blog at www.everydaydish.tv for amazing recipes and video intructionals.