Uncommon Recipes from the Celebrated Brooklyn Pie Shop

This is a beautiful, instructive book filled with complex and delicious recipes. Intimidating on first glance Four and Twenty Black Birds attempts to break everything down in a very visual manner so that you can disgard their instructions later and go by feeling (I am referring mostly with pie crust and temperature timing aspects.) The flavor profiles are out of this world and very doable. I have eaten at their home bakery in Brooklyn often and the recipes are of equal quality. I made the Junipear pie (pear pie with hints of Juniper berry, honey, and cinnamon) and it was fantastic. My husband and I were pie crust making novices and we managed to pull it off on the first round :-) Highly recommended if you are looking for unique flavors and a slight challenge.

I never write reviews but I have to recommend this book. I love baking and I love baking pies. This is such an inspiring book. I have eaten at this pie shop and it is amazing-- by far the best pie I have ever tasted. So, when I saw this book was out, I bought it right away. So far I have made 3 buttermilk pies, 1 egg grog pie, 1 lemon pie, and 1 salted caramel apple pie. They have all turned out great! These recipes are so inspiring and so much fun to make. Buy this book if you love to make pies!!

Bought this after taking a pie class last summer at Zingermans Bakery in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Love the pictures and clear directions. Bought holiday pie design cutters to use when making Christmas pies too,.

I loved this new book on making pies. The recipe for the crust was beautifully illustrated and while I haven't tried the recipes yet, looks like it will be a keeper. Although many of the pies are not traditional (you can find those recipes anywhere), the variety of unique pie recipes is wonderful! I am anxious to try them for Thanksgiving. This book is beautifully written and illustrated. I wanted to add my initial impressions after having a chance to look through and read the recipes. I will write another review when I begin using the recipes. I am very excited to have this book among my treasured cook books.

I was initially thrilled with this book when it arrived. Beautiful pictures, great instructions for making the crusts, and very interesting looking recipes. Last night I made the Rose Apple pie, and it came out so awful that we threw it out. I followed the recipe exactly, and when it came out of the oven, it had so much juice floating on the top I had to pour it out into the sink. (I had followed their directions to macerate and drain the apples before putting them in the crust.) The worst however, was the rose flavor. It called for 3 tablespoons of rose water, which overwhelmed the pie so much, that we couldn't eat it. I am nervous about making other recipes from this book, as I have noticed other reviewers say the pies seem "off." Must say, however, I loved the crust, and the lattice came out great.

This cookbook is beautiful, from the design to the photography - to me, worth the purchase alone just to thumb through it. But of course the recipes have to be good. I made the Junipear pie yesterday and it was a total success. I would never have thought to pair juniper berries and pears in a pie but it worked so well - an unusual and delicious combination. I appreciate the attention to detail in the techniques section and the seasonality of the recipes. I want to make every single pie in this book!

This cookbook is phenomenal. We have tried multiple recipes now and they taste great. We have gifted the pies to people and had people over for pie and the response has been "the best apple pie ever." The crust is easy and works every time. If you like pies, this book is for you.
*The wording in the recipes is not 100% clear. Sometimes it says amounts, and how much to add, and then later it says different amounts. It all makes sense if you ready VERY carefully.

Bought this book at the beginning of the summer. Love the recipes in the this book--the food styling and photography are wonderful and the pies are a huge hit wherever I bring them. But the book itself is completely falling apart! It's very poorly bound and the pages are falling out all over the place. Seems like it was designed to be a coffee table book, not a kitchen companion.

I love this book! The pies are arranged seasonally and there are so many I want to try making - I will be using this for Thanksgiving this year. The book is beautiful and there are photos of each pie. If you like baking or cookbooks pick this up.

Great book, great illustration, and even better, fab recipes. I made the sour cherry pie( frozen cherries) and the salted honey pie. Loved the cherry pie but the salted honey was just spectacular. Had no problem with measurements, dough etc... Love this book.

Update: I made the salted caramel apple pie, it was killer. My oven temp. Has always been at 375 in making the above pies and I have cooked them for 45-50 min. Make sure your internal oven temperature is correct.

This book. Wow! It completely blew away all expectations I had about what a pie book is supposed to be about in terms of techniques and recipes. This book is filled with delicious looking pictures and way WAY out of the box recipes - which I immediately fell in love with. The book is divided into "seasons" and for each season there are a slew of amazingly delicious and "out of the box" pies. Here are some examples.

Spring - "Rhubarb Custard Pie" (page 79), "Wild Ginger Strawberry Pie" (page 82), "Chamomile Buttermilk Custard Pie" (page 84), "Derby Pie" (page 91), "Apple Rose Pie" (page 94), "Lemon Verbena Raspberry Galette" (page 97) and "Farmer Cheese with Thyme Pie" (page 101).

Summer - "Black and Blueberry Upside Down Pie" (page 111), "Lavender Blueberry Pie" (page 117), "Paprika Peach Pie" (page 120), "White Nectarine and Red Currant Pie" (page 126), "Muskmelon Chiffon Pie" (page 139) and "Sweet Corn Custard Pie" (page 142).

Fall - "Bourbon Pear Crumble Pie" (page 152), "Honeyed Fig Crumble Pie" (page 158), "Maple Buttermilk Custard Pie" (page 161), "Pear Anise Pie" (page 164), "Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie" (page 168) and "Rosemary Honey Shoofly Pie" (page 173).

Winter - "Egg 'n' Grogg Pie" (page 185), "Malted Chocolate Pecan Pie" (page 188), "Salt Pork Apple Pie" (page 192), "Black Bottom Lemon Pie" (page 199) and "Green Chili Chocolate Pie" (page 204).

AND listen to these crust recipes... How delicious do these sound...
"Lard and Butter Crust" (page 208), "Animal Cracker Crumb Crust" (page 209 and genius! Why didn't I think of that!?), "Cornmeal Crust" (page 211), "Pecan Biscotti Crust" (page 214) and "Saltine Crust" (page 215).

I loved this book - and highly highly recommend it for those who want a pie book with "out of the box" delicious recipes... Buy it! You'll be so glad that you did.

I am a 'Cook's Illustrated' girl, and these recipes are great and not fussy to make. I made the pie crust with the butter and lard. I've never used lard before, and the crust turned out awesome! It was simple, and will now be my go-to recipe for traditional pie crusts. I made the Salty Honey Pie first, this recipe is a keeper. The recipe came together quickly, and I plan to make it again. I also just made the Black Bottom Oatmeal Pie, which was yummy and not fussy either. Next I plan on making the Salted Caramel Apple Pie.
The only thing I wish the book had were weight measurements. Other than that, I can see myself using this cookbook often.

Best pie cookbook I've ever seen. Stunningly wonderful. Salted caramel apple pie; but even more amazing is the maple lime custard pie. It doesn't sound as incredible as it is. Their kind of dear, modest shop in Brooklyn, is enough to win your heart; but don't go there, as the line will get longer.

It's a beautiful book, and the recipes are pretty inspired. The thing that I don't get is why every recipe I have made from this book is off...either a completely soggy pie, or taste that is just a little bit off. I am fairly experienced with making pies, and am just sad to say that a lot of the recipes don't live up to how great they look. I've made 4-5 different ones, and will probably not use this book anymore. Did anyone else have this experience??

I got this for Christmas and have already made three pies. The recipes are fun and original, and very easy to follow. The butter crust takes some practice, even if you have experience. Mine still melts down and doesn't cook on the bottom. Overall a fun addition to my collection.

I received this as a Christmas gift and am looking forward to trying the recipes. The photos are amazing! They inspire one to bake a pie every day (okay, maybe one per week). The step-by-step instructions and detailed illustrations for making and assembling top-crusts are clear and easy to follow. This cook book will be enjoyed for years to come.

The recipes are fabulous. The quality of the book is the problem. We have had the book for several years and it is falling apart page by page. In looking at the book cover on the store, it seems to be a different book than what we have. Did they redo the book to make the binding stronger? The book is so good that I would be willing to purchase another one if I could be reassured that it will not fall apart. Thanks!

Made the Salty Honey Pie, and it was delicious. I love this book and had to have it as soon as I saw it at the bookstore. Interesting recipes, beautiful pictures, and good "how to" info. I feel confident that the rest of the recipes should bake true. I have my own crust recipe, so mainly wanted it for the fillings. While some of the ingredients seem exotic, (that's part of the draw for someone who makes a lot of pies) I'm sure some things can be substituted. I used vanilla bean instead of vanilla paste.

I won a copy of "The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book" on BookTrib. It is beautifully written and the pictures make me hungry for pie. The first order of business is deciding which pie to make first.

I have made 2 pies from this book, followed recipes to a TEE (as I always do with every recipe), and they were disgusting.
I think this is another one of those books where the restaurateur doesn't give you the real recipe. Or they give you some altered recipe that doesn't work. I am giving it two stars for recommending the OXO pastry blender and the nice photos. But the recipes are flawed.

I'm giving this two stars because the coconut pistachio no-bake crust seemed like it would taste really good... however I wouldn't know because the coconut cream pie filling didn't set up overnight. It was completely liquid the next morning. Additionally, these recipes are overly fussy, use too many unnecessary dishes, and it seems like these ladies just learned about the concept of infusing. Do not recommend. As far as I'm concerned they owe me my $35 in failed pie ingredients back along with two wasted hours of my life. Ridiculous.