Recipes

Vinegar Pie

  • Serves

    serves 4

BEN FINK

This sweet, custardlike pie is a traditional southern dessert created by farming folks who used what ingredients they had available. "People in the country just seem to make things like this up," says Memphis local Beneva Mayweather who was kind enough to share her family recipe with us.

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • 1 12 cups flour
  • 12 tsp. salt
  • 12 cup vegetable shortening
  • 4 tbsp. butter
  • 1 egg

For the Filling

  • 5 eggs
  • 2 tbsp. butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 tbsp. melted butter, cooled
  • 3 tbsp. cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 12 cup raisins
  • 12 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 12 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • Whipped cream (optional)

Instructions

Step 1

Sift flour and salt together into a large mixing bowl. Rub shortening and butter into flour mixture with your fingers until dough resembles coarse cornmeal. Add egg, then 4 tbsp. ice water, 1 tbsp. at a time, and mix until dough holds together. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Step 2

For the filling, beat eggs with a whisk in a large mixing bowl. Add flour, sugar, butter, vinegar, vanilla, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sour cream. Stir just until mixed.

Step 3

Preheat oven to 300°. Roll out dough into a 12" round on a floured work surface. Ease dough into a 9" pie pan and crimp edges. Add filling and bake until top is golden, about 1 hour. (There will be tiny bubbles on the surface, but filling should not wiggle when pan is shaken.) Serve warm, or refrigerate and serve cold. Top with whipped cream if desired.

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