Vegan Pie in the Sky: 75 Out-of-This-World Recipes for Pies, Tarts, Cobblers, Crumbles, and More by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Vegan Pie in the Sky: 75 Out-of-This-World Recipes for Pies, Tarts, Cobblers, Crumbles, and More Reviews

• 
  Lisa Vegan

  I’d read every book to date by both
  Isa Chandra Moskowitz and
  Terry Hope Romero except this one, and have really liked or loved them all, so even though I’m not much of a pie person I decided I had to read this cookbook. I also suspected that I’d get some ideas for vegan pot lucks, and I’m always looking for great pot luck contributions.
  
  This book has good instructions and the whole thing is very readable. It’s entertaining, informative, with clear text throughout. Many of the recipes are very creative.
  
  There are helpful drawings for preparation of crusts, etc. There are scrumptious looking and wonderful photos for most, though not all, of the recipes. And in the back, there are photos, as well as names, for most of the testers, which is a cute touch. (In fact, I found it odd that since virtually all the recipes have photos, that they simply don’t all have photos.)
  
  Pie is used loosely here as there are some other types of recipes. For instance, there are many varieties of cheesecakes.
  
  Now, here is the funny thing. I’m not a huge pie fan. I love pumpkin and chocolate and others, but it’s usually the fillings I like, and usually I’d be happier with pudding and other of the insides, just in a bowl. No crusts. But this book won me over to crusts. There were several I think I’d like: olive oil double crust; chocolate olive oil shortbread crust and shortbread & chocolate shortbread crusts; gingersnap crust; and press-in almond crust.
  
  As far as the fruit pies go, most look delicious, though I’m not so sure about the basil in the peach pie. Maybe too inventive for me? The hand pies look particularly good (in the other pie types too) but that’s partly because they look fun to eat. But, if I’m going to eat all that sugar, I’d probably rather just have plain fruit and save my sugar for more decadent desserts. For those who like fruit pies though, there are many and they looked tempting even to me.
  
  I used to love creamy type pies so this section was disappointing for me. Coconut is present in most of the recipes. For those who enjoy coconut, these pies might be a hit, but most I’d have to substitute ingredients.
  
  The harvest pies section had a few recipes appealing to me, including the one the authors said was best to start with/easy, the cosmos apple pie. I also would like to try the voluptuous pumpkin pie, the sweet potato cobbler, the figgy apple hand pies, and the French toast apple cobbler.
  
  In the chocolate pies section, 4 recipes stood out for me: old-fashioned chocolate pudding pie, chocolate mousse tart, Manhattan mud pie, and the chocolate orange hazelnut tarts.
  
  In the toppings section the chocolate drizzle and the macadamia crème both looked really good.
  
  I’m the first to admit that I’m a big of a picky eater. I suspect most eaters and cooks will find more recipes than I did.
  
  I’m just delighted to find some pie crusts I like. And that first chocolate pie recipe I listed is a must make for me. And I think many of these recipes would be perfect pot luck items. So, I’m really glad I finally read the book.
  
  Contents:
  
  How To Create the Universe of Bake a Pie from Scratch:
  Essential Pie Ingredients
  Pie-Making Equipment
  How to Spy a Pie
  Roll with It: Making Great Homemade Pie Crust
  
  The Recipes:
  Pie Crusts
  Fruit Pies
  Creamy Pies
  Harvest Pies
  Chocolate Pies
  A Few Toppings
  
  Metric Conversions
  Acknowledgements
  Index
  About the Authors
• 
  Ashleigh

  I now have all three of these specialist vegan baking books. I started off with vegan cupcakes take over the world which in my gradual switch to a vegan diet has allowed me to see that veganizing my vast amount of dairy filled cupcake cookery books is now firmly do-able. I then bought vegan cookies invade your cookie jar and again I was not disappointed, not only are there some wonderful homely recipes but these books make you feel like converting to veganism will not be the end of your sugar filled life. This latest book focuses solely on pies and the main reason for us having wanted to buy it was because, lets face it, when you think of pastry and bakeries you think of butter, milk and eggs. I was puzzled with the concept of a decent pastry without the prior. Once again though the lovely Isa welcomes you into her vegan world and teaches you that to create wonderful apple filled latticed crusts, you do not need animal products. I love her for doing this. My boyfriend and I are slowly cutting dairy down and out of our lives and she has made me feel like not only will I not be missing out on anything but I am excited at the prospect of learning to cook in an entirely different fashion. The move to veganism no longer looks like a scary celery stick of doom but a warm fruit filling with a delicious butter free crust. Thank you for challenging the world of baking Isa, you are an actual real life vegan super hero.
• 
  Pauline

  This is a great little cookbook and it is even great for people who are not truly vegan...like me.
  
  It has great photos, it has simple clear recipes and the recipes turn out great!!!
  
  My husband who is no where near being a Vegan loves the desserts and prefers the vegan cheesecake to real cheesecake. Myself, I prefer the real cheesecake, but the vegan one does taste good, but the texture is definitely different from regular cheesecake, BUT it is VERY tasty and full of flavour!
  
  I am going to buy this cookbook, it is fun and colourful and yummy!
• 
  Yodamom

  Made all our Thanksgiving pies from this book and all turned out fantastic. Our fav. The Chai Pie
• 
  Jessica

  Pumpkin Cheesecake: I tried this recipe with high hopes, since we already have a cheesecake recipe we love (albeit using lots of dairy analogs like vegan cream cheese) and I'm a pumpkin fanatic. Unfortunately, while I liked the texture and taste of this pie, it didn't quite meet those expectations. Still, the recipe was fun to follow -- there were many steps but they were all easy -- and the finished product was pretty, with a homey pecan crumble topping.
  
  Happily, I also had the opportunity to attend a baking swap where everyone made a recipe from this book. Everything was scrumptious, but I think my favorites were the Blueberry Ginger Handpies with Lemon Glaze, Figgy Apple Handpies, and Ginger Peach Pandowdy, yum!
• 
  AJ

  Cookbooks from the Moskowitz/Romero duo never disappoint. However, I did notice a few annoying things about this cookbook, such as telling me to pre-bake a pie crust without telling me at what temperature or for how long to do it! Oops!
• 
  VeganMedusa

  OMFSM, this looks fantastic. I just need a reason. C'mon universe, give me a reason to make pie.
• 
  Chris

  We're not vegan, but a member of our household can't have dairy.
  
  I was hesitant to get this cookbook because we mostly make fruit pies and the recipes we use don't call for dairy. However, this cookbook is still worth having. There are a number of cheesecake recipes as well as pudding pies. And let's not forget dairy-free pumpkin pie; Thanksgiving will be the better for it. Our non-dairy eater is excited to simply make the filling for the Chocolate Pudding Pie and eat it by the bowl.
  
  I also found the cooking tips at the beginning of the book helpful. For as long as I've been baking pies, there are some crust basics that I never knew.
• 
  Nikki

  Feb 2012
  
  Pies aren't my thing unless they involve creamy chocolate (which I have an awesome recipe for already). But my long time boyfriend adores pie, especially fruit pies (I don't know what is wrong with him either....ok, so I enjoy fruit pie SOMETIMES, but craving it? Try never.). I enjoyed the various different types of pie available in Vegan Pie and look forward to trying more of them. I loaned this from the library but may need to add it to my collection, perhaps it can make me like pies more? Okay, too much pressure for one little book, I get it.
• 
  Kristina

  I'm a big baker, but I've always been a little intimidated by pie crusts. Then my hubby went vegan, and it seemed like pie crusts would be something I would never tackle. My poor husband has been left out of the dessert fun during the holidays for the last two years. I had seen this book before and so I decided to give it a whirl. Boy am I glad I did. My crust didn't turn out perfect the first time (pie crust is something you kind of need a feel for), but the authors' clear and simple directions meant that my first attempts were more than edible. And my husband was happy!
• 
  Katey

  Full disclosure: I haven't made any of the recipes in this book. But, based on the wonderful recipes in the authors' previous works, I'm sure they'll be as delicious as they look.
  
  I love the precursory information, and the way it's written is both informative and highly entertaining.
  
  I'm really looking forward to my husband (hopefully) being able to eat gluten again, because this book is tops on my list to purchase, and the pies to bake. Mmmm. PIE.
• 
  Regina Spiker

  Although so many of these looks absolutely yummy, I've narrowed it down to three that I'm definitely going to make - Chai-Spiced Rice Pudding, page 120; Apple Brown Betty on page 130 (my Mom always made the regular version of this)and French Toast Apple Cobbler, page 133. Hmmm, all apple! There are also great recipes for crusts (think vodka crust!)and doughs.
• 
  Saleris

  Liked the book. Some recipes are easier than others (to be expected in a cookbook), but given the size, the balance and selection is very good.
  I'd like to have seen at least one recipe or instruction on making mini-pies, since I'm only cooking for me and I have some little one-person pie tins, but I'll figure it out eventually.
• 
  Malika

  I made the Appleberry and the Old Fashioned Chocolate Pudding pies. The former was pretty tasty, though I don't like to taste the sourness in green apples. I'll use red apples next time. The latter was a little difficult to make and a little on the bitter side. (though it's my fault - I used bittersweet chocolate chips instead of semisweet!).
• 
  Lauren Read

  Both practical and delectable, this specialty cookbook gives me much exciting motivation and encouraging confidence to make my own pies and such. After reading through the pages -- complete with flavorful terminology such as "blob" and "adorable" throughout -- I feel well equipped with techniques and tricks just as well as recipes. It sticks, just like syrup!
• 
  Lisa Urso

  I'm not really a huge fan of pies, but this book has convinced me I can actually bake one. It does take some skill, but Isa and Terry are very encouraging and honest. Looking forward to trying an apple galette!
• 
  Aja Marsh

  i don't know if a whole book on vegan pies is necessary, because save for a few good vegan crust recipes, what else do you need? i guess for creamy pies, that's good, but those are the kind of pies i like. or custard pies like pecan or pumpkin. fine. the book is also fine.
• 
  Calista

  The banoffee pie is AMAZING!
• 
  Brandy

  I think I've made about 8 pies from this book so far and I only disliked one (Key Lime). Five stars is more than fair.
• 
  Valerie

  I've made three or four pies from here, I think. I LOVE this cookbook. Vegan cheesecake has changed my life.
• 
  Abraham Ray

  good vegan cookbook for pies & piecrusts.
• 
  Debra

  Presented in a very visually pleasing way. Easy to follow directions. Mostly one page, making it easy to file the recipes.
• 
  Lisa

  I love pie, who doesn't love pie? These recipes are scrumptious, just like all the desserts in the other two books. My go to pie book. Made the basil peach pie...sinful!
• 
  Matthew Gilboy

  love it love it. got a review copy and tried out five recipes in the first week and each was a success
• 
  Nadirah Khalifah

  awesome book, good recipes
• 
  Blake

  It's no secret I have a (semi)sweet tooth, and some of the things I missed the most when we went plant based (vegan), are baked goods and deserts. This book delivers on the promises of vegan desert recipes. It is a solid 4 star cook books for sure. The thing for me that keeps it from 5-star status, is that so many of the recipes need oil, or are SO sweet, so I have to find substitutes or do the math to cut the amount of sweetener.
• 
  Kelly

  This cookbook is so good that I have it on my kindle just in case I ever travel home for Thanksgiving without it.
  
  Love the olive oil double crust recipe, it's now my go-to.
  
  Haven't made a bad pie yet.
  
  Thanks Isa Chandra Moskowitz for making all my childhood favorites accessible without harming animals - from Superfun Times to Vegan Pie in the Sky and all the cookbooks in between, you're my hero.