(Cook) Book Review: Pie Camp

Review by Elizabeth Fajardo

Summer break always makes me want to learn something.

I have always been a bit of a contrarian, especially when it comes to school work. I never wanted to do homework during the school year, but some how, the second final exams are over, I have the urge to learn new things, hobbies, information, or otherwise. I probably like learning over summer break the most because it is a time when I am able to construct my own lesson plan, and because as an adult, I no longer have summer camps to occupy my time, what else have I to do if not learn? Well this summer we are doing both; we are going to Pie Camp!

Every time I tell people that I love making pie, I get weird looks. From many seasons of great British bakeoff, I have learned that pastry crust is the bane of many home baker’s existence. Temperature control, shrinking, and worst of all repeated rests in the refrigerator, all make pie crust difficult to work with. I argue that is because of lack of knowledge.

Baking, I have found, has a rather high barrier to entry (can you see that economics degree coming in handy?). It’s hard to bake something well the first time if you don’t bake all that much, which can get very discouraging very quickly. I, myself, (and many other chefs who are much better than me: Claire Saffitz, Melissa Weller, and Magnus Nielson to name a few) argue that this is not due to baking being anymore difficult than cooking, its preferred sister discipline. But rather, baking is more difficult because we as home cooks do it less, and with less practice comes less intuition and more frustration. Pie Camp by Kate McDermott changes all that.

What started as an actual camp and then became a book, Pie Camp is less of a series of recipes for many different baked goods and more a handful of master recipes which McDermott riffs on throughout the book. Tables, golden rations, charts, diagrams are all used to show you how to get from basic pantry staples to enviable pies, turnovers, crisps, and crumbles with as little frustration as possible.

I’m going to be honest. I have only made one pie from this book. After absconding with it at B+B and reading it cover to cover like a novel, I quickly threw together the Apple Blackberry pie which, if I do say so myself, was pretty good. But the crust recipe that I used was my tried and true from A Baker’s Year with McDermott’s method, and I only half read the recipe. I would argue, that is the point of this book. This is a book you read to perfect your pies, to learn how to easily throw together a pie. I have used the charts more than I have followed the recipes, and my pie game has certainly elevated.

I love making pie crust. After having eaten one of my pies, Adaze, the newest member of our B+B Clique, asked me how I make my millimeters thin pie crust (the most difficult and misunderstood part of a good pie), I then went on to tell her an extensive 10+ step process, Pie Camp’s extensive 10+ step process. I think I have turned her off pies for the rest of her life. My and her time would probably been better spent if I had just handed her McDermott’s book. Certainly, rather than being discouraged she would have been excited to get home and make pie.

The reason kids go to camp is to have fun. Don’t get me wrong, it is also important to give parents a brief respite within which to clean their house and have a glass of wine. But the reason kids want to go to camp is to have fun. This book makes pie fun, something I think most home bakers don’t believe it to be. It takes the guesswork, mistakes, confusion, and eventual frustration out of pies, and in return, it gives you a pie. How great is that? So, with the Fourth of July just around the corner, what better time is there to perfect your apple pie?

“Pie camp is the only camp I’d wanna visit.” - Dominic, Book Club Maestro and all around great guy