In observance of Pie Day (March 14, or 3/14, or as some Europeans write it, 3.14), this past Sunday I made two pies for dessert. We normally have eight of us at Sunday dinner, but once or twice a month we also have a couple of missionaries. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes referred to as Mormons), it’s just something we do. Three of my children have served missions (Eastern Ukraine; Eastern Texas and Louisiana; and Fresno, California); the ones serving in the US very much enjoyed sharing meals with people. The one serving in Ukraine had to eat his own cooking most of the time—feeding missionaries on a regular basis would have been too much of a financial burden for church members there.
Anyway, we enjoy having the missionaries over, and I have no problem trying out new recipes with them. Besides, there is always something for backup in case a recipe goes horribly wrong. Last month they got to try out Water Pie; this month I decided to give Vinegar Pie a try. Admittedly, it was a Depression-era recipe that I had passed over many times previously. Seriously, how could something called Vinegar Pie be any good?
But then I read of someone calling it a Mock Lemon Pie. Ok, I thought, that might be doable. It called for very basic food storage ingredients, and I’m pretty sure shelf-stable ingredients could be substituted for the fresh eggs, milk, and butter. Here’s the recipe as I found it:
VINEGAR PIE
Pat in the pan crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons cold milk
Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a 9” pie plate and use fingers to mix until evenly blended. In a large measuring cup, combine the oil and milk and beat until creamy. Pour all at once over the flour mixture. Mix with a fork until the flour mixture is completely moistened. Pat the dough with your fingers and flute the edges.
Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, blend the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vinegar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute, until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Pour into the unbaked pie crust. Bake until knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. The pie will be golden brown. Cool on wire rack until firm. Refrigerate.
Notes. I liked the pat-in-the-pan crust. I’d never done one of those, and it was pretty easy. It would be a good one for a child to start with. I baked the pie about 55 minutes, but the knife still wasn’t coming out clean. Hmm…. It was also getting pretty dark, so I just pulled it out anyway. I think perhaps it was overbaked, but it tasted fine and held together very well for serving. (I refrigerated it overnight.) And while it had a nice yellow tint to it (under the brown top, which admittedly didn’t look so appetizing), it didn’t really taste of lemon to me.
Family reviews: QOTPE was appalled that I even dared to make this and totally rebelled. She went and got some ice cream instead. Lydia followed suit. The missionaries, being well-behaved young men, declined the girls' offer of ice cream. The rest of us ate the pie. Some, including me, liked Water Pie better. We liked the sugar cookie flavor of that pie. The rest liked this Vinegar Pie better. I wouldn’t have a problem serving it in a Depression.
But you know, I thought the recipe could be improved upon to taste much more like lemon—and use more shelf-stable ingredients, like powdered milk, powdered eggs, coconut oil, and lemon extract. So this is what I did:
LEMON PIE
Pat in the pan crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
3 tablespoons cold milk (2 teaspoons powdered milk in 3 tablespoons cold water)
Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a 9” pie plate and use fingers to mix until evenly blended. In a large measuring cup, combine the oil and milk and beat until creamy. Pour all at once over the flour mixture. Mix with a fork until the flour mixture is completely moistened. Pat the dough with your fingers and flute the edges.
Filling
1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon coconut oil, softened*
1 tablespoon milk (3/4 teaspoon
powdered milk in 1 tablespoon water)
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or TrueLemon powder packets)
3 large eggs (6 tablespoons
powdered eggs and 6 tablespoons water)
1 teaspoon each lemon and vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, blend the oil, milk, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, eggs, and extracts. Beat for 1 minute, until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Pour into the unbaked pie crust. Bake until knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. The pie will be golden brown. Cool on wire rack until firm. Refrigerate.
*Coconut oil isn’t a perfect substitute for butter when it comes to creaming with sugar. It doesn’t become light and fluffy and form the air pockets that are desired when creaming with sugar. Adding a little milk helps compensate a bit for this.
So how'd we like this version? I used coconut oil, powdered milk, and powdered eggs, as well as lemon juice and lemon extract. Aaron and Becky thought it was a bit too sweet and wondered whether some of the sugar could be omitted. I had a small slice and thought it was great. I had to go straight to bed so that I wouldn't eat any more. We'd all definitely choose lemon pie over vinegar if there's an option.
Links to related posts:
Coconut Oil
Water Pie
DIY Lemon Extract
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