Lemon Pie (Shaker)

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 flavour from the pith, and the texture tends toward the chewy side, but it all works for the aforementioned lemon-lovers like myself. 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 flavour in your pie.

Filling:
2 medium lemons
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten well
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, unbleached
¼ tsp. kosher or sea salt

Crust:
1½ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
2 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. kosher or sea salt
10 Tbsp. (2/3 cup) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into ½" cubes
2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening or butter, very cold
3 Tbsp. ice water

Start the Filling:
Toss sugar, salt, and lemon zest, freshly grated and slices in a bowl; cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.

Make the Crust:
Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and put them in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Put the flour, sugar, salt, butter, and shortening in the workbowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse to cut the fat into small pieces, some the size of peas and some smaller. With the machine running, slowly pour the water through the feed tube. The dough should begin to come together into a ball; when it does, turn off the machine immediately. Do not let it form a complete ball.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and gently shape it into two disks about 1½" thick. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Take the dough out for the refrigerator and let it sit for 10 minutes. On a floured surface, roll out 1 of the dough disks into a circle ¼" thick and 10" wide. Carefully transfer it into a 9" pie plate. Press the dough gently into the pan and trim away any excess dough, leaving about ½" beyond the edge of the pie pan. Fold the edges up and over, and then crimp the edges decoratively. Or press the back of a fork into the pastry rim, working around the pie to make a flat edge marked with the tines of the fork. If not filling the crust soon, refrigerate it until needed.

To make the crust in advance, wrap it well in plastic and refrigerate it for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to 2 months.

Preheat an oven to 425°F (220°C/200°C fan, Gas Mark 7).

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 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" long, again gathering escaping juices back into the bowl for their flavour.

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.

Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C/210°C fan, Gas Mark 8).

Line a 9" pie pan with crust, leaving a 1" 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" 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, 25-35 minutes more.

Place the pie on a cooling rack or a folded kitchen towel and let cool to room temperature.