Book of Tarts: Form, Function, and Flavor at the City Bakery [Hardcover]

Maury Rubin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1995

Maury Rubin, the country's most innovative pastry chef, leads readers into their kitchens with enthusiasm and teaches recipes of surprising ease. From the fruit tarts of spring and summer through the chocolate, custard, and cream tarts of fall and winter, the hardest part is deciding where to begin.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068812254X
• ISBN-13: 978-0688122546
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Pies

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiration to make pure and simple tarts!, August 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Book of Tarts: Form, Function, and Flavor at the City Bakery (Hardcover)

New York Times Aug 18. Food Section featured a splendid summer picnic menu. All recipes were included except Maury Rubin's Blueberry-Coconut Tarts. New Yorkers get them at City Bakery. What's a Bostonian to do? Get Maury's book which does have this recipe and many more. Best of all, he gives very easy to follow directions on making the dough. Many of the tarts are made with fresh fruit. The color photos of each tart are very helpful and inspirational to me. Love this book.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great fun with great recipes!, July 5, 2001

By 

Tammy Johnson (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book of Tarts: Form, Function, and Flavor at the City Bakery (Hardcover)

After flipping through the pages of this book, I was on a mission like a thing posessed in search of flan rings, which the author lists as a "must have" to make his tarts. The tarts are so visually appealing, I had to find out for myself if they tasted anywhere near as good as they looked. I found four flan rings- at a rediculous $9 per four-inch ring. I couldn't see buying eight, which is the number that one recipe of pastry makes. But the results were worth it!! I tried two recipes. The first was a fully baked tart shell filled with ricotta cheese and topped with fresh berries. The second was a tart baked with almond cream and fresh cherries (my substitution for plum slices which the recipe called for). The cherry tarts looked like something I'd buy from a pastry shop- just gorgeous. The shells have a great short-bread like flavor and a much nicer crumb than many tart recipes. However, what they make up for in flavor, they lack somewhat in durability. They are somewhat fragile. Mr. Rubin's instructions are excellent, and though the first time through takes time and patience, it was not difficult. Anyone comfortable with pastry should have no trouble with the shells. The down side is the practicality. If you need many tarts at one time, the flan rings are expensive. I was able to fashion rings out of foil and shape the tarts with a foil ring inside a stainless steal ring. Once the pastry is shaped and trimmed, just slip the stainless steal ring off and the foil will hold perfectly fine for baking. The pastry dough handles easily, but the sharp rims of traditional tart pans will cut through it and ruin it before you have a chance to shape it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars absolute best tarts, June 28, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Book of Tarts: Form, Function, and Flavor at the City Bakery (Hardcover)

I was told that the best tart dough recipe could be found in this book and was happy to discover this to be completely and utterly true. Yes, the pastry is fragile, but, my god, it's delicious -- buttery (but not greasy), flaky, slightly sweet. No more thick, heavy, greasy crusts from other cookbooks!

The recipes for the various tarts are wonderful and unique and the pictures beautiful. But, the bottom line is, you should buy this book for the pastry recipe alone.