The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book

In honor of today being pi day (it's March 14, or 3.14), I figured I'd review my new pie cookbook, because frankly I don't have enough time today to bake a pie!

Honestly, pie isn't my first (or second, or third...) choice when it comes to dessert.  But upon the recommendation of my friend L, I picked up this book because she said the pies were awesome -- but more importantly they had a really great and easy pie crust.  Well, I was sold, considering I have been buying frozen pie crust for all of my pie-baking endeavors that do not require a graham cracker crust!

Enter one of the 3 new cookbooks to my ever-growing collection: The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book!

Some of the recipes in the book are classic pie recipes, like Derby pie and sour cherry pie.  Some are slightly altered versions of oldies but goodies, with about 5 varieties of pies with apples in them!

Other are newer, fresher, more creative pies, like wild ginger strawberry pie (I can't wait for spring to make this one!!), nectarine blueberry pie, salted caramel apple pie (L made this one for Thanksgiving and I was drooling as she was telling me about it!), and cinnamon apricot pie with vanilla pouring cream, just to name a few.  Mmmmmm!

And get this -- there isn't one pie crust recipe, but 10 crust recipes, including an all butter crust, a chocolate all butter crust, lard & butter crust, and an animal cracker crust!!

And the pictures, oh the pictures!  The pies look heavenly, and there's even a picture of what raw freshly made pie crust is supposed to look like.  Remember that time you made a homemade pie crust and it looked like all the butter wasn't mixed in?  Well, turns out it's supposed to look like that!  According to this book, "the dough should be marbelized with streak of butter."  Who knew!   And as an added bonus, there are illustrations on how to weave a pie crust, too!

Liddabit Sweets Candy Cookbook

This year, I bought myself a Valentine's Day present. Well, actually two.  The day after Valentine's Day, while B was working, I treated myself to a a bowl of Ramen at Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop at the new (and awesome) Gotham West Market.  Then, I walked into The Brooklyn Kitchen (a cute kitchen-y store with supplies and food...and they even have classes!), and stumbled across some delicious sounding (albeit expensive) chocolate bars from a place called "Liddabit Sweets."  I debated buying one, until I saw the "Liddabit Sweets Candy Cookbook" just next to them, a little further back.  The old adage "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime," popped into my head.  Why buy ONE candy bar when I could learn how to make them, and a whole bunch of them, at that!

Let me tell you one thing: this cookbook has tons of recipes!  Literally, tons.  On quick count, I counted 70!  They have recipes ranging from homemade nonpareils to marshmallows to caramels to homemade candy bars.  Some of the recipes that I want to try just from skimming the book include, but are most definitely not limited to: salted soft chocolate (similar to a Tootsie Roll), cherry cordials, peanut butter & jelly cups, gumdrops, beer and pretzel caramels, salt water taffy, nougat, marzipan, and about 8 different candy bars...just to name a few!!!

I see a lot of candy in my (and your!) future...

Smitten Kitchen cookbook

I've talked about Smitten Kitchen before.  It's one of my all time most favorite food blogs ever.  I've made a ton of her recipes, and have even put some of them up on the blog.  There was the grapefruit yogurt cake, some divine sweet and spicy candied nuts, hazelnut thumbprint cookies, braided stuffed lemon bread, and the most perfect yellow cake (which is significantly high praise from this chocolate lover), just to name a few.

Just over a year ago, the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook came out (October 30th was it's first birthday!).  I knew about it before it came out, and then while it was out, but hadn't bought it...until about 2 months ago.  Honestly, I don't know why I waited so long, but I did. 

I just have to say that although this cook book has both savory and sweet recipes, I am looking at it strictly from the baking perspective (for this review....doesn't mean I won't reevaluate it later on for it's savory components).

There are buttered popcorn cookies, salted brown butter crispy treats (which I'm sure my friend N has made....and she RAVES about them and how decadent they are), gooey cinnamon squares, brownie roll out cookies (which I've made before and they're FANTASTIC), lemon bars, a s'more layer cake, and a deepest dish apple pie that I literally just drooled over!  She also has a grapefruit olive oil pound cake which is similar to the grapefruit yogurt cake I made from her blog.  And apple cider caramels, which I had been eyeing since she posted them on the blog over 13 months ago.  And oh-my-word, I just saw a recipe for coffee toffee.  Now I'm drooling all over again!

Looks like I have to get back in the kitchen soon!!

Robicelli's: A Love Story with Cupcakes cookbook

I have to admit that before last week, I didn't know what a Robicelli's cupcake was.  Boy, was I missing out!  As I started reading a bit more about the Robicellis (and saw a picture of the couple), I realized that I had seen Allison on a dessert-themed episode of Chopped on the Food Network back when B was more-than-mildly-obsessed with the show.

It started with a pin on Pinterest for "Dom DeLuise Cupcakes."  I pinned it immediately and then clicked on the link.  It was a cannoli-inspired cupcake with a pistachio cupcake and a ricotta buttercream, topped with mini chocolate chips and chopped pistachios.  I made them either that night or the next day (my memory is a bit hazy about that -- the past week has been insane).  They were awesome -- and I was hooked.  Then I found a few of their other recipes online, and a few days later I made the chocolate peanut butter pretzel cupcakes.

I debated ordering the cookbook immediately, but then decided I was being silly -- since I know I'd be buying it eventually -- and ordered it on the last day of pre-order.

I can't wait to make some more of them....I'm eying one particular cupcake for a party I'm going to in early December, and I'm looking for an event to make "The Duckwalk" for -- it's a vanilla cupcake with blueberry port mascarpone buttercream, and topped with port blueberries, which just sounds heavenly to me.  Plus, I have a bottle of the namesake Duck Walk Blueberry Port in my wine rack :)

If you want to drool over the cookbook like I did, pick it up here.

Bouchon Bakery cookbook

I have been eyeing this giant monstrosity of a coffee table cookbook for a while.  For just about a year, according to my blog post on August 16th of last year, when I first mentioned it.  I was finally in Williams Sonoma with a gift card at the same time, and bought it a few days ago.  And then I had to schlep it home...all (roughly) 6.5 pounds of it!  400 pages.  And what I can only assume is hundreds of recipes! 

I have to admit that I want to make croissants.  B loves croissants.  And once I can learn to make croissants, I can attempt to make a cronut for him.  (Although when I was looking for a link for the cronut, I came across a few cronut recipes, which I have bookmarked for later.)  But I digress...

Homemade Nutter Butter cookies....bacon cheddar scones...carrot muffins...homemade Oreos....coffee cake...devil's food cake...homemade Ho Hos...eclairs....the list of things I want to make goes on and on and on!

Baked Explorations cookbook

Last month I had stumbled into Williams Sonoma and spent some time in the cookbook section.  There were two that I wanted.  I bought one of them then and there, a Bundt Cake cookbook called Cake Simple, and left the other one to pick up on a rainy day.  Well, a few weeks later I went back and bought it (although it wasn't rainy that day).  See, when flipping through the cookbook in the store weeks before, I saw a Nutella scone recipe that, well, I just knew I was going to have to make.

I have to admit that I actually bought this cookbook a few weeks ago and it sat in the bag for a while.  Then I took it out and flipped through it.  There are so many amazing sounding recipes in there!  I can't wait to make them and share them with you!

Bundt cake cookbook

One lazy day this past weekend, I stumbled into Williams Sonoma (and by lazy, I mean hectic errand-running weekend that brought me within a few feet of Williams Sonoma).  I checked out the baking tins and trays, and then meandered over to the cookbook section.  Two caught my eye.  One was a bundt cake cookbook and the other was a cookbook from a local bakery.  I wanted them both but didn't have my Williams Sonoma gift card on me, but I couldn't completely delay gratification nor did I have enough time to go back later that same day to buy them, so I bought one. 

I love that this book has a variety of different kinds of bundt cakes - mainstream, fancy....and even minis!  I think I am most excited to try the Lemon Basil one.  Partly because I'm intrigued, and partly because I think my sister will like it, and she isn't big into sweets.

Check out the book:

And I was sure to put my gift card in my wallet as soon as I got home so that next time I pass a Williams Sonoma on one of those "lazy" days, I can pick up the other one.

New book to add to the bookshelf

This morning I went out to run a few errands.  Pick up a very belated gift for a coworker.  Buy a giant cup of coffee.  Then I randomly wandered into Williams-Sonoma.  Now, mind you, there is never a time when I "randomly wander" into Williams-Sonoma, it's more as if a magnetic force pulls me in.  But thats besides the point.  After that, I wandered into Sur la Table (this was, in fact, wandering in, as I initially walked by to see when they were opening, only to discover that they had already opened.  It was a sign.  I had to go in).

I left with the things I had initially set out to purchase - the gift for my coworker and a ridiculously large coffee - but also came home with a new baking book, from Williams-Sonoma.  My hands were too full to really look through the cookbooks at Sur la Table, but there is one I'd like to go back and look at in the near future.

Expect some recipes from this new baking book, once I've had time to sift through them all (and once I've finished my paper).