Icebox Pies (Paperback)

~ (Author) "One day when I was finishing up a book about baking, my editor called and asked if I'd like to write a book on icebox..." (more)
Key Phrases: prepared crumb crust, gelatin stand, chocolate cookie crust, Pie Makes, Warm Chocolate Sauce, Vanilla Wafer Crust (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Icebox Pies, Lauren Chattman offers 100 recipes that will sweeten the stigma of the standard homemade no-bake pie. Thanks to Chattman, what used to seem only appropriate for the church bake sale has been refined with a chic twist. Though she offers the basic graham-cracker-crust recipe, she also includes an array of crusts that use lemon nut cookies, amaretti cookies, zwieback, and gingersnaps. Her featured fillings include the traditional lineup of no-bake pies (Chocolate Mousse Pie and Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Pie, among others), but the trendy and unusual recipes are what make this cookbook a lot of fun. Raspberry and Cocoa Mascarpone Cream Pie, Caramelized Pineapple and Cream Cheese Pie, and Cranberry and Butterscotch Chip Ice Cream Pie are just a few examples of delicious flavor combinations. The author also recommends toppings that range from Maple Walnut Sauce to Cranberry Dessert Sauce to Nougatine. (All filling recipes feature several suggestions for complementary crust choices and toppings.) With this book, Chattman provides a variety of no-bake pie options--guaranteed not to burn--that are interesting and elegant. --Teresa Simanton --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Chattman's previous cookbooks Instant Gratification, Mom's Big Book of Baking, etc. have featured easy, no-fuss recipes, and her latest dessert book offers more of the same. Her refrigerator/freezer pies run the gamut from custard pies like classic banana cream to "fruit and cream combos" such as cherry and mascarpone pie to ice cream parlor treats like peanut butter cup pie. (There aren't quite as many pies as you might expect here, though, since 30 or so crust, sauce, and garnish recipes help make up the 100 the subtitle promises.) For most dessert collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Common Press; illustrated edition edition (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558322132
• ISBN-13: 978-1558322134
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #118,925 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very fine cookbook on a sorely neglected subject, July 26, 2002

By	Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Lauren Chattman is going for maximum nostalgic gusto here--note the term "icebox" instead of "refrigerator" or "fridge." With her delightful "Icebox Pies," Chattman turns the spotlight on a sorely neglected dessert subject--and rightly so. The pies herein are scrumptious to look at, and I can attest to the fact that they are easy as, well, pie, to make!

Chattman has a loosey-goosey, conversational style in her text, but this is clearly a woman who knows her way around the kitchen. When she tells the reader what to do, she doesn't just say, "Do it"--she explains her thinking and experience behind the directive. This makes you feel that you're in capable hands, as indeed you are.

I really liked the additions of crust and sauce recipes. I was particularly intrigued by the inclusion of a crust recipe which uses crunched-up ice cream cones as the main ingredient--what a simple yet brilliant idea (wish I'd come up with it myself!). There are old favorites in here, as well as desserts with a new twist: Pumpkin Mousse Pie, Piña Colada Pie, White Chocolate Ganache and Banana Pie, Ricotta Cream Pie with Blood Oranges, Couscous and Apricot Pudding Pie, and so on. The more traditional pies include Rich Chocolate Mousse Pie, Chocolate-Mint Sorbet Pie, Coffee Heath Bar Ice Cream Pie, and even a yumilicious-looking S'Mores Pie.

This slim but well-researched volume is an excellent choice as a hostess gift for the folks with whom you're going on vacation--or as a special treat for your favorite dessert-maker. Everything in here looks do-able, and the results are very, very good in every way.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Retro Pies Without an Oven, February 18, 2004

By	jerry i h (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

The description of no-bake and no-fail pies is a bit misleading, since about half (if you exclude the ice cream pies) of pie fillings have to be cooked in a pot on the stove. However, it is true that these pies always work no matter how clumsy you are in the kitchen. You must leave these pies in the refrigerator or freezer for several hours to finish the recipes. Most of all, they taste good and are easy to do, since you never bake them.

I am glad somone wrote this book. The whole spectrum of old fashioned pies that do not get baked has virtually disappeared; to get a recipe, you will need to consult a cookbook that is at least 30 years old. This is ashame, as many of these pies are easy to do and taste fabulous, and are definitely worth doing in your home (but probably not as a restaurant dessert). There is a lot of history in this collection of pie recipes.

The first chapter has 15 recipes for pie crusts. Fortunately for us clumsy people, all of them are based on cookies or crackers that you crush in a food processor. No doughs or rolling pins here. You just press it into a pie pan and bake for a few minutes. My complaint here is that all of them are either very sweet (from using packaged cookies, which is very clever) or strongly flavored (from graham crackers). I could not find one that was relatively neutral in flavor.

There are roughly 70 or so pie recipes. They include mousses and custards (20), chocolate (17), fruit (10), ice cream (17), showstoppers (7). The crusts and finishing touches are listed as suggestions at the end of each pie filling recipe, so you get to choose what you want and can vary them if you want. The fillings are mainly based on cornstarch (custards and pastry cream), whipped cream (cream pies), whipped egg whites, and gelatin (variously bavarian cream, chiffons, mousses, etc., although the author does not always use these terms as appropriate). There are many varied fillings, including a few cheesecakes and some fruit pies.

My complaints are few. Some of the caption texts are pastel colored fonts which are sometimes hard to read. Some of the cooking procedures are unusual and called for extra steps, but are easy to follow and always worked. There is also an occassional lack of detail in the procedures, such as making caramel or mixing melted chocolate into a cold substrate like whipped cream.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Cookbook!, September 26, 2002

By	"willwarren" (Irvine, California United States) - See all my reviews

I collect cookbooks and this is one of the best! It's easy to follow and the "no-bake" recipes are just outstanding. I truly love the photography in this book (by Duane Winfield--an obvious talent). The strawberry cheese cake pie on page 36 is-to-die-for and so simple! My pie almost looked as good as Mr. Winfield's picture!