Book Review: Pie It Forward

It's sunny and cool out; just beautiful. I saw the first daffodils of the season yesterday....the sight of their bright yellow petals made me so happy. I love spring. Even if my allergies flare up. Everything is green and glorious. In fact, it's almost been a year since I left Alaska; when I got home, it was right in the middle of April and after months and months of snow, seeing all of the plants in bloom was intoxicating. Summer, I don't love so much. It's so humid. It's disgusting. BUT, that's when the fruit is in season, and I love my fruit in everything. Cobbler, pie....speaking of pie....

I finally received my copy of Pie It Forward, by Gesine Bullock-Prado. It was torture to wait until it was released. I have her previous book, Sugar Baby, as well. I love her books, because she is genuinely funny, helpful, and her desserts are just gorgeous. Someday I hope to make things as polished as she does...though if I did I might not let anyone eat them because they'd be too pretty.

Her books are indeed gorgeous. In fact, slipping off the slipcase cover reveals:

Oh my God. This is the cover of a book?! It's beautiful. I want that as a poster to put on my wall. (it's actually my phone's lock screen background right now) Pie pops! I think I'd much rather have those than cake pops.

Her book is divided into six sections, but I'll just go over the main four: The Basics, The Sweets, The Savories, and Pie It Forward. Within each section are smaller sections. For the basics, she offers many recipes for crusts: crusts that go best with sweet pies, crusts that are good for double-crusted pies, puff pastry...as well as helpful tools you'll need. Several recipes for things like caramel, pastry cream and glaze round it out.
The Sweets section has many sub-chapters. Apples and pears, figs and dates, nuts, tart and tropical, creamy, etc. are some of the many options you have. Cheesecake is even featured---yes, cheesecake is considered a pie. She also includes other pie-ish goodies, such as tarts and pie pops. Mmmm. There are several recipes for apple pies alone, including a recipe with the beloved Vermont cheddar cheese that some people swear by. I personally want to try it myself.
The Savories includes some heartier dishes, such as pot pie and even calzones, which would be perfect for dinner.
The last chapter contains beautifully presented and artistic pastries that I don't think I will be trying until I have some more confidence!

And the pictures. Oooooh my, the pictures.

Like I said, her desserts are truly beautiful. And Tina Rupp, the photographer, is clearly very talented. However, while the pictures are wonderful, they are also the main flaw of this book. The flaw being there aren't enough of them. I am a very visual person; when I attempt a new recipe I want to see how it's supposed to look. The drawback to this book is that there is not a picture for every single recipe. Or even every other recipe. I'd say maybe a third of the recipes actually have a picture to look at. And that's a shame. It was something many others complained about in her first book, as well. She does have a companion website which offers more pictures as well as video demonstrations...but not everyone has access to the internet whenever they need. And let's face it, who wants to look at images of lovely pies on a screen when it can be on the page in front of you? Yes, I'm being a bit greedy here---the pictures that are in the book are so nice I can't help wanting more! I know many other (and in my opinion, less beautiful) books that are able to have pictures for everything, and I would gladly pay a higher price if it meant getting that in her next volume. Oh, yes, her next book..apparently she has a third one in the works. Unfortunately, it probably won't be released any time soon. But I will still wait for it.

Despite the flaw of the lack of pictures, her books are truly enjoyable and she does have well-written instructions. In fact, some of her writing makes me laugh out loud. I especially enjoy the "interview with a pie" introduction in which she interviews...well, a pie....and goes into a brief but very interesting lesson on the history of pie. "Easy as pie? I'm not that kind of girl!"

Of course, no matter how beautiful the book is, it falls flat if the recipes don't work. I think, as soon as it gets a bit warmer, I'm going to get some berries and make that wonderful concoction I posted above...

Bottom line: This is a gorgeous book that obviously had great care and love put into it. Even if you love pictures like me, I wouldn't let it put you off from purchasing it, because the book, and the author, are so charming. And if you're as big a pie lover as me, it's well worth it. You can easily pick up a copy at Amazon.

What's that? You want to look at more goodies? Funny, so do I.

Disclaimer: The book Pie It Forward, all its content and photos are copyrighted to Gesine Bullock-Prado, Tina Rupp, and respective creators. The review posted above is purely for personal reasons and no copyright infringement is intended.