Pie Camp: The Skills You Need to Make Any Pie You Want

by Kate McDermott

The techniques and inspiration you need to achieve “pie confidence” at home.

Readers fell in love with Kate McDermott and her story-filled cookbook, Art of the Pie. In this new book, McDermott takes her teaching to the next level. Here, she’s focused more on how to decorate pastry with braided crusts, troubleshoot a custard that won’t set, create beautiful layered pies, and perfectly thicken your fruit filling. Once you have the foundations down, it’s time to mix and match crusts, fillings, and toppings. The dozen “master” recipes—from flaky to tender to cookie crumb crusts, and fruit to cream to chiffon pies—will become part of every pie maker’s repertoire and will open the door for bakers everywhere to conjure pies with self-assurance. There are gluten-free crust options for every pie, including Apple Ginger Maple Bourbon, Raspberry Peach Sunset Chiffon, Double Chocolate Banana... plus recipes for easy homemade ice cream and pie-lets for one or two. Gorgeous color photography by Andrew Scrivani brings Pie Camp to vivid life.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference

344 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 6, 2020

Reviews

[BethFishReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

more like 4.5. So, you might ask, if I already have two new pie books, why would I need a third. Well, let me tell you what puts Kate McDermott's Pie Camp (Countryman Press; Oct. 6) on my buy list. McDermott starts out as you might expect, with solid tips on equipment, ingredients, and techniques. She fills the middle of her cookbook with reliable, easy to follow pie recipes for fruit, custard, chiffon, nuts, and more. But here's the genius: she shares a number of "master recipes," which give you the skills and foundations to make your own signature pies. You'll find master recipes for crusts (including gluten free), fillings, toppings, and types of pies (layered, mousse, cream, etc.), along with handy charts of flavor combos and ratios of ingredients. Throughout you'll find lovely photos, pie facts and history, and tips and tricks. The cookbook also contains recipes for crisps and crumbles, heirloom pies, and even muffin tin pies and mini tarts. McDermott also provides directions for all kinds of toppings and extras, like roasting nuts and making the perfect meringue. Recommendation: If you're ready to take your pie baking to the next stage, Kate McDermott's Pie Camp is your perfect guide. Beginners to experts will find a lot to love in this cookbook. I'm looking forward to mastering the master recipes.

[Andi Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would buy this book. Kate McDermott answers the “whys” with pies, so you’ll be wise with pies! Tons of beautiful photos, facts, and hacks. I haven’t checked out Art Of Pie, but it’s now on my list!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally OBSESSED with this pie cookbook!

I've tried many of the types of dough from this book, Quite literally, every recipe I have tried from this book has been a 10. Not joking, I checked my records.

Apple Blackberry Pie: Absolutely delicious. No leftovers. Extremely easy to make.
Classic Blackberry Pie: Another delicious option. No complaints here. At all.
Peaches and Cream Pie: INCREDIBLE. Absolutely amazing. One of the best pies I've ever had and everyone else had similar comments. Would definitely make it again and again!
Summer Solstice Strawberry Pie: AMAZING!! Made with the press in almond flour crust. So so good.
Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp: Delicious. The crumble on top was oh so good.
Buttery Blackberry Crisp: The family LOVED this.

Can't wait to try more recipes soon!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed instructive sections in the beginning. Lovely looking pies and treats.

[pnwlibrarianpnw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful and instructive book about making pie - I feel fortunate to have been in a class hosted by the library that Kate taught. The full colored photos are gorgeous and even though I haven’t been able to make all the pies in the book - I am glad I took the time to skim/read the entire thing. Don’t miss her afterword! A great addition to my pie baking book collection that includes her Art of the Pie also.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely want to get my own copy of this book at some point. It has a lot of great info for basic techniques that will let you make your own recipes as well as recipes of its own with plenty of bonus variations.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

a book full of techniques for pies - stays mostly to the sweet and the classic -with some interesting twists but a good reference.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I am going to buy this. There are so many useful suggestions and tons of great recipes. I flagged the pages I liked and there are so many that I feel it is worth buying.

[Amy McEntee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed instructions, great tips for techniques.

[Tina]

So many recipes and photos that make me want to bake a pie! First, I'd like try a creeping crust fruit cobbler and pielettes.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read from cover to cover. Lots of good information and hints. And excellent recipes, which I can’t try until my oven is replaced.

[Meagan | The Chapter House · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the mother lode of books on pie! Love love love it--an invaluable resource to up my pie game. Practice makes perfect ... and this book defo helps me get there.

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this !

[Mariko · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked how the book was organized, but it could have used pictures instead of text in several places. Also, some of the directions were hard to follow or missing steps.

[Lorraine]

Did not try any of the recipes. They looked good.

[J. Muro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely want to buy this book! Best pie book out of most pie books. Returning to library and cannot wait to stain, wipe crumbs and flour, lick pages, mark, dog-ear the pages, & experiment-

[Brindi Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I ever have the desire to start making pies, THIS is the cookbook I must own! So many helpful tips!

And how fun would it be to go to PIE CAMP?!?!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for myself, read it but have not made one pie! I had dreams and plans but never followed through!

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent how-to pie instruction book, with a lot of gluten-free options. I would have liked more photos, though.