The recipe is from the Guardian. I didn't have any caster sugar so I put 500 g. of table sugar in the food processor to refine it. I substituted shortening for half of the butter in the crust. This was the first time I ever tried using vinegar in the crust. I couldn't tell much difference. The slices of whole lemon were a little chewy. Next time I may just zest the lemons and peel all of them. The recipe is here:
it. Love this recipe but thin k it needs a bolder bake next time. It's the peels that make it 'Shaker' too but most people zest the lemons and then slice them thin and then add the sugar. I prefer reserved lemons in it though so don't take them out. Use a mandolin to slice the lemons thin enough with the peels on. Looks great otherwise and
I agree it is under baked. My cheapo mandolin slicer wouldn't hang with the lemon skins so I gave up on it. I'll try to get the lemon sliced thinner next time. Still a tasty mistake. :)
with the taste and chew lies in the recipe itself - it certainly isn't a Shaker one. The Shakers were and are fabulous cooks and bakers and quite gifted just like they were in all of their endeavors and crafts but like all of their endeavors they were known to be thrifty and wise when it came to using materials and ingredients. They could make a Scotsman look like a spendthrift.
They were known to make, grow and harvest as many of the items they needed for their communities as they could. They couldn't grow lemons or sugar cane where they lived in N America and they were both very expensive for Shakers to buy or trade for. No way they would ever make this pie without the skins or using more than 2 lemons or more than 4 eggs for that matter even though they had their own chickens. Shakers never used superfine sugar for recipes that didn't need it like cake icings would. With this pie, no Shaker would ever need worry about the sugar being gritty after it soaks with lemons overnight:-).
There are many Shaker Lemon Pie recipes out there that are more authentic, closer to the real thing and better! I'm pretty sure the Shaker Cookbook, circa 1953 would be a good place to start but there are plenty of online knockoffs too. I would look for a Shaker pie crust too.
I prefer Meyer Lemons for this recipe too, to cut out some of the 2 cups of sugar, because I am diabetic but the Shakers didn't have them either:-) Now you have the whole recipe except the bit of salt in the filling and using the old Shaker trick of adding 1/4 cup of water into the eggs before beating them pale and then adding a couple tablespoons of flour to thicken up the filling and to stretch the filling and fill the pie a bit more for little cost - something a Shaker baker would almost always do:-)
The whole idea is to slice the lemons so thin that after macerating them with the sugar they actually dissolve into the filling and you don't bite into the skins at all or even know they were used in the mix.
This is one of the greatest pies of all time if you like lemons as much as the Shakers did and knew when too many lemons was too many:-)
Thanks for your input. I'm sure it's not authentic shaker.I just thought it looked good and different. Hopefully I can improve it the next time. Thanks again for your help. I am constantly amazed by the depth of the baking knowledge on this site!!
if you get the chance, make a shaker lemon pie with meyer lemons. really superb. and the rind is more amenable to this particular pie.
if you have trouble getting a regular lemon thin enough, you can mix the lemons with the sugar and let it sit in the fridge a day or two to let the sugar do it's magic. then add the eggs, form the pie, and bake.
I'll give the Meyer lemons a shot. I soaked the lemons in the sugar over night at room temperature, maybe it should have been longer. This was my first attempt at a Shaker lemon pie.
I can appreciate all the work that went into your pie. I'll bet there's not a crumb left.
I made the pie and posted about it here in 2010 'Tartine's Shaker Pie'. I have a lemon tree full of lemon's now. It's not a Meyer lemon tree but the Shaker lemon pie is delicious using regular lemon's, soaked, sweetened and mandolin sliced, they can be very tender and just keep you coming back for another slice of that sweet tangy lemony pie! I just can't break down and buy Meyer's when I have a tree, baskets and frig full of lemon's.
Just a question. Does it have a slight trace of bitterness because all of the bitter white pith is included or the overnight sugar soak does magic to remove bitterness?
Very sweet and rich. My only objection was that the lemon slices were chewy, and that was my fault because I couldn't slice them thin enough. If I had thought about it I would have tried the slicing blade on the food processor.
a mandolin is to cut the lemons in half first, half way down the long length. Lay the 2 cut sides down on the the board and then slice as thin as possible - much easier to get them paper thin that way.
The recipe is from the Guardian. I didn't have any caster sugar so I put 500 g. of table sugar in the food processor to refine it. I substituted shortening for half of the butter in the crust. This was the first time I ever tried using vinegar in the crust. I couldn't tell much difference. The slices of whole lemon were a little chewy. Next time I may just zest the lemons and peel all of them. The recipe is here:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/apr/09/lemon-yoghurt-spelt-cake-recipe-baking-the-seasons-claire-ptak
it. Love this recipe but thin k it needs a bolder bake next time. It's the peels that make it 'Shaker' too but most people zest the lemons and then slice them thin and then add the sugar. I prefer reserved lemons in it though so don't take them out. Use a mandolin to slice the lemons thin enough with the peels on. Looks great otherwise and
Happy baking
http://www.ochef.com/580.htm
I agree it is under baked. My cheapo mandolin slicer wouldn't hang with the lemon skins so I gave up on it. I'll try to get the lemon sliced thinner next time. Still a tasty mistake. :)
with the taste and chew lies in the recipe itself - it certainly isn't a Shaker one. The Shakers were and are fabulous cooks and bakers and quite gifted just like they were in all of their endeavors and crafts but like all of their endeavors they were known to be thrifty and wise when it came to using materials and ingredients. They could make a Scotsman look like a spendthrift.
They were known to make, grow and harvest as many of the items they needed for their communities as they could. They couldn't grow lemons or sugar cane where they lived in N America and they were both very expensive for Shakers to buy or trade for. No way they would ever make this pie without the skins or using more than 2 lemons or more than 4 eggs for that matter even though they had their own chickens. Shakers never used superfine sugar for recipes that didn't need it like cake icings would. With this pie, no Shaker would ever need worry about the sugar being gritty after it soaks with lemons overnight:-).
There are many Shaker Lemon Pie recipes out there that are more authentic, closer to the real thing and better! I'm pretty sure the Shaker Cookbook, circa 1953 would be a good place to start but there are plenty of online knockoffs too. I would look for a Shaker pie crust too.
I prefer Meyer Lemons for this recipe too, to cut out some of the 2 cups of sugar, because I am diabetic but the Shakers didn't have them either:-) Now you have the whole recipe except the bit of salt in the filling and using the old Shaker trick of adding 1/4 cup of water into the eggs before beating them pale and then adding a couple tablespoons of flour to thicken up the filling and to stretch the filling and fill the pie a bit more for little cost - something a Shaker baker would almost always do:-)
The whole idea is to slice the lemons so thin that after macerating them with the sugar they actually dissolve into the filling and you don't bite into the skins at all or even know they were used in the mix.
This is one of the greatest pies of all time if you like lemons as much as the Shakers did and knew when too many lemons was too many:-)
Happy baking
Thanks for your input. I'm sure it's not authentic shaker.I just thought it looked good and different. Hopefully I can improve it the next time. Thanks again for your help. I am constantly amazed by the depth of the baking knowledge on this site!!
on this site knows everything about just about anything:-) It is what makes this site great.
if you get the chance, make a shaker lemon pie with meyer lemons. really superb. and the rind is more amenable to this particular pie.
if you have trouble getting a regular lemon thin enough, you can mix the lemons with the sugar and let it sit in the fridge a day or two to let the sugar do it's magic. then add the eggs, form the pie, and bake.
I'll give the Meyer lemons a shot. I soaked the lemons in the sugar over night at room temperature, maybe it should have been longer. This was my first attempt at a Shaker lemon pie.
I learned something new! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked it.
is also a lovely recipe from the book.
I can appreciate all the work that went into your pie. I'll bet there's not a crumb left.
I made the pie and posted about it here in 2010 'Tartine's Shaker Pie'. I have a lemon tree full of lemon's now. It's not a Meyer lemon tree but the Shaker lemon pie is delicious using regular lemon's, soaked, sweetened and mandolin sliced, they can be very tender and just keep you coming back for another slice of that sweet tangy lemony pie! I just can't break down and buy Meyer's when I have a tree, baskets and frig full of lemon's.
Sylvia
I found your thread and your Shaker lemon pie looked beautiful. Free lemons are always the best kind of lemons!
Just a question. Does it have a slight trace of bitterness because all of the bitter white pith is included or the overnight sugar soak does magic to remove bitterness?
Very sweet and rich. My only objection was that the lemon slices were chewy, and that was my fault because I couldn't slice them thin enough. If I had thought about it I would have tried the slicing blade on the food processor.
a mandolin is to cut the lemons in half first, half way down the long length. Lay the 2 cut sides down on the the board and then slice as thin as possible - much easier to get them paper thin that way.
I'll give it a try. As long as I'm "picking your brain", do you have any suggestions for a more authentic Shaker pie crust?
1 C flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 C of lard or shortening, ice cold water. Shakers made a great orange pie too
Thanks for all the tips!