Vinegar Pie
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3/4 cup light cream
- 6 large egg yolks
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 prebaked 9-inch pie shell, recipe follows
- Serving Suggestion: Pint of fresh strawberries; or 1/2 pint raspberries or blackberries, for garnish
- In a medium bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the cream.
- Let rest for 1 minute, then whisk again.
- Whisk in the yolks, eggs, and vanilla.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the water, sugar, vinegar, and butter to a boil.
- While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle the hot liquid into the egg mixture.
- Return to the saucepan and, while whisking constantly and scraping the bottom of the pot, cook until tiny bubbles boil up, about 10 seconds.
- Strain the curd into a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
- Spread the cooled filling in the pie shell, then refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Decorate with berries, if you like.
- 3 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pea-size bits
- 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water
- Nonstick vegetable spray, for coating pan
- Between 2 sheets of waxed paper, flatten the shortening out to 1/8-inch thickness.
- With a butter knife, score it into 1/2-inch squares.
- Freeze for 30 minutes, until stiff.
- Put the flour in a large bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, pastry blender, or your fingertips, work in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
- In the same manner, mix in the shortening squares.
- While sprinkling in the ice water, mix with your fingers just until the dough comes together in a ball.
- Pat it into a 3/4-inch-thick disk.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
- Lightly coat a 9-inch pie pan with nonstick vegetable spray.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11 1/2-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick.
- Fit it into a 9-inch pie plate.
- Trim the dough, leaving about a 1-inch overhang, then fold the overhang under itself and decoratively crimp it against the rim of the plate.
- Prick the dough all over with a fork.
- Freeze for 20 minutes.
- Line the pie shell with aluminum foil and weight down with dried beans or pie weights.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the foil with the weights, lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 8 minutes longer, or until lightly tanned.
- Set on a rack to cool.
- When lemons were out of season, or just too expensive, millions of bakers figured out how to make a tart "curd-style" pie filling with vinegar.
- Cheap and always available, it turned out to be just the right stuff for adding some pucker to a pie.
- Jerry Lewis (yes, that Jerry Lewis) often reminisced about the wonderful vinegar pie that his grandma used to bake.
- O.K., this pie may sound a little...er, different, but don't be deterred.
- It was a real favorite a hundred years ago and if there ever was a pie that was deserving of re-discovery, this scrumptious old-time favorite is it.
- Of course Grandma Lewis didn't know about fancy-pant balsamic vinegar but that won't stop us from going upscale.
- Try it and get ready for a new-fangled flavor surprise.
- On its own, vinegar pie is truly amazing.
- Topped with fresh berries, it's the eighth wonder of the world.
cornstarch, light cream, egg yolks, eggs, vanilla, water, sugar, balsamic vinegar, unsalted butter, pie shell
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/vinegar-pie-recipe.html (may not work)