4.0 out of 5 stars
Retro Pies Without an Oven, Feb 19 2004
This review is from: Icebox Pies: 100 Scrumptious Recipes for No-Bake No-Fail Pies (Paperback)
The description of no-bake and no-fail pies is a bit misleading, since about half (if you exclude the ice cream pies) of pie fillings have to be cooked in a pot on the stove. However, it is true that these pies always work no matter how clumsy you are in the kitchen. You must leave these pies in the refrigerator or freezer for several hours to finish the recipes. Most of all, they taste good and are easy to do, since you never bake them.
I am glad somone wrote this book. The whole spectrum of old fashioned pies that do not get baked has virtually disappeared; to get a recipe, you will need to consult a cookbook that is at least 30 years old. This is ashame, as many of these pies are easy to do and taste fabulous, and are definitely worth doing in your home (but probably not as a restaurant dessert). There is a lot of history in this collection of pie recipes.
The first chapter has 15 recipes for pie crusts. Fortunately for us clumsy people, all of them are based on cookies or crackers that you crush in a food processor. No doughs or rolling pins here. You just press it into a pie pan and bake for a few minutes. My complaint here is that all of them are either very sweet (from using packaged cookies, which is very clever) or strongly flavored (from graham crackers). I could not find one that was relatively neutral in flavor.
There are roughly 70 or so pie recipes. They include mousses and custards (20), chocolate (17), fruit (10), ice cream (17), showstoppers (7). The crusts and finishing touches are listed as suggestions at the end of each pie filling recipe, so you get to choose what you want and can vary them if you want. The fillings are mainly based on cornstarch (custards and pastry cream), whipped cream (cream pies), whipped egg whites, and gelatin (variously bavarian cream, chiffons, mousses, etc., although the author does not always use these terms as appropriate). There are many varied fillings, including a few cheesecakes and some fruit pies.
My complaints are few. Some of the caption texts are pastel colored fonts which are sometimes hard to read. Some of the cooking procedures are unusual and called for extra steps, but are easy to follow and always worked. There is also an occassional lack of detail in the procedures, such as making caramel or mixing melted chocolate into a cold substrate like whipped cream.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
ice box pies, Feb 25 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Icebox Pies: 100 Scrumptious Recipes for No-Bake No-Fail Pies (Paperback)
tasty combinations, wonderful pictures and yes you can convert to low calorie desserts espectially weight watchers style. All you need do is exchange lite cool whip for heavy cream, and in some pies use the pre made low fat crust in the stores.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Cookbook!, Sep 26 2002
This review is from: Icebox Pies: 100 Scrumptious Recipes for No-Bake No-Fail Pies (Paperback)
I collect cookbooks and this is one of the best! It's easy to follow and the "no-bake" recipes are just outstanding. I truly love the photography in this book (by Duane Winfield--an obvious talent). The strawberry cheese cake pie on page 36 is-to-die-for and so simple! My pie almost looked as good as Mr. Winfield's picture!
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