Dear, sweet Vinegar Pie. Oh! How I've missed thee!
And with that, you probably think I'm insane.
Unless you've had vinegar pie. Then you know as well as I how yummy, smooth, and sweet that odd-sounding desert can be.
Since this is Pi(e) Month and tomorrow is Pi(e) Day, now is the best time for me to extrapolate on Vinegar Pie.
It's a great pie full of simple ingredients you should already have in your cupboard. Word has it that this pie was popular among American pioneers because it delivered bright flavor without using fresh fruit- which spoiled and was only available with the seasons. The prairie wife could serve something sweet and satisfying to her family at the end of a hard day full of sweaty work regardless of the time of year. And the ingredients are cheap- vinegar, egg, sugar, a touch of flour, and whatever flavoring one has kicking around in the back of the cupboard. If you keep a basic pantry, keep this recipe. You can easily whip it up at a moment's notice for impromptu entertaining or sweet-tooth attacks without a grocery run.
It's been over a year since I last made it way back in July of 2012. Wanting to make it again, I followed the link to my old recipe from the Heritage Recipes website.
And I found nothing.
The site was gone.
I was devastated.
Of course there are other recipes that I can use. However, I wanted to continue my old experiment of making the perfect vinegar pie, and every good experiment requires control group to compare any possible findings against. My 'control' was that recipe. I needed it!
Fortunately, other people needed it too, and they took preemptive measures, caching the recipe in nooks and crannies of the internet to share with people like me and preserve for themselves.
So, before I lose the recipe again, I'm copying it here for you.
Many thanks to Lorna-Organic for posting this on the idigmygarden.com forum.
Vinegar Pie
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. ground allspice
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 9” pie crust that had been briefly baked (about 3 minutes) at 450 degrees
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Sift together flour and spices then add to flour mixture, mix well. Beat in egg, vinegar and water. Pour into a double boiler and cook over boiling water until thick. Pour into the pie shell and bake about 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
Here's another antique recipe, also courtesy of Lorna-organic
Pioneer Vinegar Pie
1 egg
1 heaping tablespoon flour
1 c sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat these ingredients together and add 1 tablespoon of sharp vinegar and a cup of cold water. Flavor with a little nutmeg and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Cover with second pie crust and flute edges. Bake for an hour.
And finally, here's my slight variation. The extra egg ensures that you get a thicker custard and a deeper pie, and the flavoring is wonderfully complex on the simple vinegar custard background.
Spiced Vinegar Pie
2 Tb butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tb apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
3 Tb flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 whole cardamom pods, cracked
Pie crust - either a blind-baked pastry crust or a cookie crumb crust. I used espresso shortbread cookie crumbs and butter for mine.
And with that, you probably think I'm insane.
Unless you've had vinegar pie. Then you know as well as I how yummy, smooth, and sweet that odd-sounding desert can be.
Since this is Pi(e) Month and tomorrow is Pi(e) Day, now is the best time for me to extrapolate on Vinegar Pie.
It's a great pie full of simple ingredients you should already have in your cupboard. Word has it that this pie was popular among American pioneers because it delivered bright flavor without using fresh fruit- which spoiled and was only available with the seasons. The prairie wife could serve something sweet and satisfying to her family at the end of a hard day full of sweaty work regardless of the time of year. And the ingredients are cheap- vinegar, egg, sugar, a touch of flour, and whatever flavoring one has kicking around in the back of the cupboard. If you keep a basic pantry, keep this recipe. You can easily whip it up at a moment's notice for impromptu entertaining or sweet-tooth attacks without a grocery run.
It's been over a year since I last made it way back in July of 2012. Wanting to make it again, I followed the link to my old recipe from the Heritage Recipes website.
And I found nothing.
The site was gone.
I was devastated.
Of course there are other recipes that I can use. However, I wanted to continue my old experiment of making the perfect vinegar pie, and every good experiment requires control group to compare any possible findings against. My 'control' was that recipe. I needed it!
Fortunately, other people needed it too, and they took preemptive measures, caching the recipe in nooks and crannies of the internet to share with people like me and preserve for themselves.
So, before I lose the recipe again, I'm copying it here for you.
Many thanks to Lorna-Organic for posting this on the idigmygarden.com forum.
Vinegar Pie
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. ground allspice
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 9” pie crust that had been briefly baked (about 3 minutes) at 450 degrees
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Sift together flour and spices then add to flour mixture, mix well. Beat in egg, vinegar and water. Pour into a double boiler and cook over boiling water until thick. Pour into the pie shell and bake about 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
Here's another antique recipe, also courtesy of Lorna-organic
Pioneer Vinegar Pie
1 egg
1 heaping tablespoon flour
1 c sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat these ingredients together and add 1 tablespoon of sharp vinegar and a cup of cold water. Flavor with a little nutmeg and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Cover with second pie crust and flute edges. Bake for an hour.
And finally, here's my slight variation. The extra egg ensures that you get a thicker custard and a deeper pie, and the flavoring is wonderfully complex on the simple vinegar custard background.
Spiced Vinegar Pie
2 Tb butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tb apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
3 Tb flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 whole cardamom pods, cracked
Pie crust - either a blind-baked pastry crust or a cookie crumb crust. I used espresso shortbread cookie crumbs and butter for mine.
Cream butter and sugar, then beat in egg, water, vanilla, and vinegar. Add the flour and spices, except the cardamom pods. Whisk smooth.
Pour into a double boiler and drop in the cardamom pods. They will steep in the custard as it cooks, but you'll remove the pods. Cook the mixture, stirring frequently, until you have a thick custard. Don't be impatient and don't fret if it takes a while. Let it take its time- about 10 full minutes.
Once it's thick, fish out the cardamom pods andlick them clean discard. Pour the custard into your pie crust and bake at 350 F. for 30 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
Pour into a double boiler and drop in the cardamom pods. They will steep in the custard as it cooks, but you'll remove the pods. Cook the mixture, stirring frequently, until you have a thick custard. Don't be impatient and don't fret if it takes a while. Let it take its time- about 10 full minutes.
Once it's thick, fish out the cardamom pods and
And, before we go off to make our last-minute pies for Pi(e) Day tomorrow, a gif for the month.
It's 3-14, y'all.
(Thank you, Timey Wimey Limey, for your Pi(e) gif!)
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