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

Camilla V. Saulsbury
Cumberland House (2006)
ISBN 1581825420
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!

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