Customer Reviews

Puff Pastry Perfection: More Than 175 Recipes for Appetizers, Entrees and Sweets Made with Refrigerated Puff Pastry Dough

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a wonderful cookbook. I have already used it for multiple hoilday occasions and plan to use it throughout the year. The history of puff pastry at the beginning is fascinating and the recipes are outstanding. A SMART cookbook, one I will reach for again and again for all kinds of entertaining because the recipes are so diverse, perfectly written and quite easy. Here is what I have made so far with great success:

*Blue cheese & Fig puffs (so good and so easy--made me look like a professional caterer. They use fig jam)

*Petite Pissaladières

*Brandied Pear Tarts (these were exquisite, and, again, so easy. Really beautiful too)

*Chocolate Macadamia Strudel (holy moly. I don't think there was a single crumb left)

*Double Ginger Sugar Twists (These may be my new favorite cookies. I love ginger and these were incredibly simple, only 5 ingredients)


For the record, I think it is ridiculous to give a low rating for a cookbook based SOLELY on the presence or absence of pictures. I've seen that for several cookbooks on Amazon, as well as trivial comments about the cover, etc.. FYI: As someone who once worked in the publishing industry, I know that authors have about zero control over such design aspects of books (unless you are a superstar author). It is largely a matter of the alotted budget set out by the publisher.

I bought this book with the hope of learning more about working with puff pastry in general. Every time I tried to use it, I seemed to end up with tough, flat-ish results.

The author provides an excellent how-to section at the front that I have used for recipes in the book as well as recipes that I already have. For example, I followed the advice of keeping a baggie full of ice water nearby now to keep my hands from getting too warm as I am working with the dough. I also used to have trouble rolling out the dough; learned that I was probably not defrosting it long enough, now it's a breeze. I am very pleased.

I've only made some really simple things so far, to work on technique (sweet and savory twists, puff pastry topped mushroom soup, and some easy rolled up cookies), but they were all yummy and the directions were very easy to follow. I am going to try some the mango napoleons for New Year's Eve.

The Pepperidge farm kind of puff pastry is good, but if it's a special occasion, try the dufour all-butter kind. I tried it with a batch of Parmesan twists from the book and they were so good, it was worth the splurge.

One look at the cover ... and you just know that you have something wonderful in store for you!!! And once you turn the page ... the perfection of puff pastry awaits you!!! But not just the perfection ... the simplicty ... because these recipes call for 'frozen' puff pastry ... it doesn't get much better!!! Between the appetizers, entrees and sweets ... I feel like I've died and gone to puff pastry heaven!!!

I have had my copy of Puff Pastry Perfection for about 2 years now, and am finally getting around to reviewing it.

I got my copy as a gift and wasn't really familiar with puff pastry. Now? I use it all the time. This is a gem of a cookbook, one I really use. I have made the puff pastry pizzas more time than I can count, and use the cookie ideas for last minute cookie trays at Christmas and year-round.

As for the photos (the lack of which has bothered other reviewers here): I guess I have two categories for cookbooks. I love a gorgeous coffee table cookbook, for dreaming and perusing. I want such books to have the very best photos and styling throughout. But then there are my go-to books, the ones I use all the time to really cook and bake from. This book falls into the latter category. Would I have liked some photos included? Sure. Does it make a difference towards how much I use and love the recipe here? Not a bit.

In terms of usability, writing, and fabulous recipes, this really is perfection.

I just ordered two more copies of this book to give to friends for xmas; I've had mine for two years and pull it out anytime I need to make an impressive but easy appetizer for a special occasion. People always think the appetizers came from a specialty store or bakery! Very innovative recipes and easy to follow.

Simply a wonderful book; I bought it used several years ago, but would gladly pay full price for it had I known how much I'd end up using it. I make the simple puff pastry cookies every year to great acclaim, and have made countless appetizer recipes, too. Delicious and easy!

This is a wonderful "go to" pastry book. I love the front end material as much as the recipes. Wealth of recipes for every occasion. I was expecting more of an appetizer book, and while there are plenty of stellar options for those, I turn to this book for quick dinners (e.g., puff pastry pizzas) and desserts every bit as often.

This is already one of my favorite cookbooks! It is wonderful and beautifully made, too.

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (2/07)

"Puff Pastry Perfection" is a dream come true for those people who love the taste and feel of puff pastry without the complicated recipes. The book starts with a description and history of Puff Pastry and also adds many valuable tips for working with it successfully. The recipes are based on the store-bought, very affordable, prepackaged Pepperidge Farms brand that can be found in any grocery frozen food section. One advantage to the Pepperidge Farms brand is that it contains partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening instead of butter, so you don't have to worry about serving it to people who are kosher, vegan and lactose intolerant. I was very interested to read about the more expensive and harder to find all butter brand made by Dufour Pastry Kitchens and may try it to compare the difference in taste.

Puff Pastry is very versatile and can be used in appetizers, entrees and desserts, but most cooks do not use it because they are afraid that it is too complicated to work with. This book debunks those myths through over 175 recipes. My biggest problem with the book is where to start with the recipes - I want to try them all! I plan to use the recipes for hosting parties and when attending potluck dinners. I may have to try out the pizzas and Chicken Pot Pie before that though. Who could turn down recipes such as Parmesan Sage Twists, Italian Sausage Rolls, Dried Cherry and Almond Baked Brie, Wild Mushroom-Sausage Pizza, Puff Pastry Po' Boys, Banana Puffed Pie with Chocolate Rum Sauce, fruit tarts and Bittersweet Chocolate Torte, just to name a few?

While this is a great cookbook, I would caution the more inexperienced cook who relies on photos to keep an open mind. I found the instructions to be very simple and easy to follow without photos, but if I were a novice in the kitchen I might be intimidated by the lack of photos. All in all, I found "Puff Pastry Perfection" to be a great book and am looking forward to trying these wonderful recipes!

Received book free of charge.

I can't speak to how the recipes in this book are since they are not readable on the Kindle. The font is very odd and has spaces in it so the letters are incomplete even when the font size in increased. But the big problem is that the font size can't be increased for the ingredient list. You can increase the font size for the instruction part of the recipe but the ingredient list stays at about a 6 point font and can't be increased. So between the odd "holey" font that can be increased but is still hard to read and the ingredient list which can't be increased at all, this book is not usable by anyone with less than 20/20 vision. Also there is an index but it isn't linked and isn't readable. All in all a very poor job of migrating this to the Kindle.