Shaker Lemon Pie

Shaker Lemon Pie
Shaker Lemon Pie
The Shakers, an early nineteenth-century religious group who knew that good things like lemon pie were worth waiting for, lived and worked in communities throughout New England, and established a vibrant Shaker fellowship in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. Preserved as a living history museum, today's Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill illuminates their traditions and creations, including woodworking, farming, spinning, and stonework. Their restaurants serve this signature confection, Shaker Lemon Pie. For those of us who adore lemons, it is magnificent, and if you simply appreciate thrift and culinary creativity, you'll admire its unique approach. The issue is its pithy-ness. Shaker lemon pie uses the entire lemon, from yellow peel through white pith and all the way to the interior seeds. This means slicing two whole lemons absolutely paper thin, and macerating them for hours in sugar. The resulting pie includes a subtle sharp flavor from the pith, and the texture tends toward the chewy side, but it all works for the aforementioned lemon-lovers like myself. For my version, I chop the thinly sliced lemons coarsely, so that despite my uneven slicing, the lemon pieces are bite sized. I also add a little flour, to thicken the juices a bit. Plan ahead, so that you can set the mixture of very thinly sliced lemons and sugar aside for at least three hours and ideally, overnight. This makes for a softer texture and profoundly lemony flavor in your pie.
  • Preparing Time: -
  • Total Time: -
  • Served Person: Makes one 9-inch pie
American Citrus Fruit Dessert Bake Vegetarian Southern Lemon Family Reunion Party Advance Prep Required Kidney Friendly Pescatarian Peanut Free Tree Nut Free Soy Free Kosher
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 medium lemons

Preparation Using your sharpest knife (a serrated knife is ideal), trim each lemon to remove the stem end and tip. Slice each lemon crosswise, as thinly as you can possibly do it, into paper-thin circles. If you can drape them over the knife blade like the watches in Salvador Dali's surrealistic paintings, you're on the right track. Scoop up as much of the escaping lemon juices as you work, and add them to the bowl of sliced lemons. Chop the thinly sliced lemons coarsely, so that the largest pieces of lemon rind and pith are only 1 inch long, again gathering escaping juices back into the bowl for their flavor. Add the sugar to the bowl of lemons, and stir to mix them together really well. Cover and set aside at room temperature, for at least 3 hours and as long as overnight. Stir occasionally with a big spoon, to mix everything together well. Heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a 9-inch pie pan with crust, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Add the eggs, flour, and salt to the bowl of sugary lemons. Stir to mix everything evenly and well. Pour this filling into the piecrust. Use a little water to wet the top rim of pastry around the piecrust. Roll the remaining dough into a 10-inch circle and place it carefully over the filling. Trim away the extra pastry, leaving a 1-inch overhang extending beyond the rim of the pie pan. Fold the crust up and over, and crimp it decoratively. Or press the tines of a fork into the pastry rim, working around the pan to make a design. Cut 8 steam vents in the top of the pie, so that steam can escape and the pie's juices can bubble up. Place the pie on a baking sheet and place it on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake until the filling is bubbling and thickened, and the pastry crust is cooked and handsomely browned, 25 to 35 minutes more. Place the pie on a cooling rack or a folded kitchen towel and let cool to room temperature. From Southern Pies: A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes, from Lemon Chess to Chocolate Pecan by Nancie McDermott. Text copyright © 2010 by Nancie McDermott; photographs © 2010 by Leigh Beisch. Published by Chronicle Books LLC.

Preparation Using your sharpest knife (a serrated knife is ideal), trim each lemon to remove the stem end and tip. Slice each lemon crosswise, as thinly as you can possibly do it, into paper-thin circles. If you can drape them over the knife blade like the watches in Salvador Dali's surrealistic paintings, you're on the right track. Scoop up as much of the escaping lemon juices as you work, and add them to the bowl of sliced lemons. Chop the thinly sliced lemons coarsely, so that the largest pieces of lemon rind and pith are only 1 inch long, again gathering escaping juices back into the bowl for their flavor. Add the sugar to the bowl of lemons, and stir to mix them together really well. Cover and set aside at room temperature, for at least 3 hours and as long as overnight. Stir occasionally with a big spoon, to mix everything together well. Heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a 9-inch pie pan with crust, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Add the eggs, flour, and salt to the bowl of sugary lemons. Stir to mix everything evenly and well. Pour this filling into the piecrust. Use a little water to wet the top rim of pastry around the piecrust. Roll the remaining dough into a 10-inch circle and place it carefully over the filling. Trim away the extra pastry, leaving a 1-inch overhang extending beyond the rim of the pie pan. Fold the crust up and over, and crimp it decoratively. Or press the tines of a fork into the pastry rim, working around the pan to make a design. Cut 8 steam vents in the top of the pie, so that steam can escape and the pie's juices can bubble up. Place the pie on a baking sheet and place it on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake until the filling is bubbling and thickened, and the pastry crust is cooked and handsomely browned, 25 to 35 minutes more. Place the pie on a cooling rack or a folded kitchen towel and let cool to room temperature. From Southern Pies: A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes, from Lemon Chess to Chocolate Pecan by Nancie McDermott. Text copyright © 2010 by Nancie McDermott; photographs © 2010 by Leigh Beisch. Published by Chronicle Books LLC.

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