Great Pies & Tarts

by Carole Walter

Book Overview

Carole Walter makes it easy for even beginners to create delicious pies and tarts. Simple, step-by-step instructions show how to make both American-style pie pastry and French-style tart pastry. Also... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 051770398X
• ISBN13: 9780517703984
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter Publishers
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 2.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 7.8" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Resource for Baking Great Pies

I think this book on Great Pies & Tarts is fantastic. It provides many wonderful recipes. But the best aspect of the book is that the author provides key insights into how to bake a pie and strategies for troubleshooting your pie when your pie did not come out as well as you would have liked. It tells you the basics that you should know if you bake any pie. It describes details in pie making that you would only get with experience. So if you want to start off pie making with guidance, avoiding simple mistakes, and with knowledge of required basics, then this cook book is necessary. Moreover, with the knowledge provided by the author, you are inspired to create wonderful pies. It is not just a book with recipes. It is a book which empowers you to create great pies. The only improvement I would recommend is that it would be helpful if every cookbook provided pictures of the result of every recipe, which would be labor intensive. Otherwise this book is more than just a cookbook, it is a source of inspiration and experience.

Kudos to Carole Walter: A Wonderful Chef, Teacher, Author

"Great Pies & Tarts" proves its worth, as your taste will attest, when you sample the results from the instructions and recipies presented. Please note, Arthur Schwartz, a wonderful culinary professional, is not a co-author as advertised. Examining the book will confirm this.

Goes way beyond the beginner level

The title "Great Pies & Tarts, with a primer for the beginner" understates the value of this excellent cookbook for the more experienced baker. Certainly, the book does give detailed instructions for every step of pastry-making, in case the reader has never baked a single pie. However, I think the true value of the book lies in two areas: creative, luscious ideas for unusual combinations of flavors and textures, and precise trouble-shooting guidelines for perfecting the included recipes, as well as all your old pie and tart recipes. I borrowed this book from the local library, but ended up reading it cover-to-cover over several nights. I'll have to buy it now, as well as her "Great Cakes", since she probably has volumes of advice on this topic, too. The only recipe I've made so far is "Roy's Apricot-Cherry Pie with Almond Streusel", and it tastes fabulous. I learned several valuable hints on eliminating soggy, overly-juicy pies made with perfectly ripe summer fruits. This is a must-read for any serious baker.

A good combination of basic information and neat recipes.

I read through the entire book on a trip from two Creeks to Minneapolis, and tried several recipes when I reached my destination. The pie crusts were the best I've made, and the lemon merangue pie a delight. I had to flip pages back and forth, going from basic recipes to specific recipes, but that wasn't a major problem. I liked the careful separation of directions for "by hand" and "by food processor" and (against advice) did the whole cust by processor. The other thing I liked was the array of unusual recipes--unusual, but not bizzare. The ideas for keeping the crusts crisp were very helpful, esp. the use of gingersnap crumbs in the lemon pie. Would never have thought of it, but seemed a perfect solution, not detectable in the least. Having completely messed up the library's copy with butter, flour and lemon peel, I will now buy my own.