Shaker Lemon Pie

Shaker lemon pie is a strange and bitter confection that isn’t meant for everyone. I’ve taken a few liberties with the original idea and made it my new favorite dessert.

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Equipment

9" Cake Pan

Ingredients

Filling

2 large lemons (or three small lemons)
1 TB grated fresh ginger
¼ cup fresh blackberries
1 ¾ cups cups sugar
4 each eggs lightly beaten
¼ cup all-purpose flour
6 TB salted butter melted

Pastry

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp teaspoon salt
1 stick salted butter, cubed (4 oz/ ½ cup)
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed (4 oz/ ½ cup)
¼ cup cold water
1 egg +1 TB water (egg wash)

Instructions

Filling

In a small bowl, grate lemons and ginger and add blackberries.
Peel the lemons and place them in the freezer for an hour. When they’re ready, slice them as thinly as possible (a mandolin is great but not totally necessary).
Add sliced lemons to the bowl of lemon zest, ginger and blackberries. Add sugar. Gently stir the sugar and fruit until everything is coated with sugar. Cover and let sit overnight.
When you’re ready to bake, add melted butter and flour to the lemon mixture. Stir well and let it cool for a few minutes. Add eggs and stir until everything is combined.

Pastry

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the cubed butter and toss until it’s coated in flour. Start working the flour into the butter with your hands, gently squeezing the butter and breaking it into smaller pieces. When the butter pieces are the size of small peas, drizzle in the water and toss gently to distribute it evenly. Form two balls -- one should be ⅓ smaller than the other (if you have a kitchen scale, the weights should be about 9oz/13oz). Place the balls in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
When the dough is ready, place the larger ball on a lightly floured surface and roll it out so that it measures 14” in diameter. Line the cake pan with the dough -- the dough should extend beyond the pan. Set aside.
Roll out the smaller ball of dough so that it measures about 9.5” in diameter (slightly larger than the cake pan).
Pour the filling into the dough-lined cake pan. Gently place the smaller disk of dough on top of the filling without letting it sink. Fold the edges of the bottom crust over the top crust to encase the filling. Brush with egg wash. Place on the middle rack of oven and bake for 30 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 350℉ and move the pie to the floor of the oven and bake for another 20 minutes. (If the top crust is starting to brown too much, place a sheet of aluminum foil over it.)
Let cool completely (at least three hours) before serving.

Keyword Meyer lemon