In all my many years of eating and baking pie, I never have had a bite of Shaker Pie. Never knew what a Shaker Pie was. Never spotted one in the bakery. Never heard of anyone baking Shaker pie. Thankfully that ended Labor Day weekend when our good friend Leigh Spargur baked one for a group of friends visiting Palmetto State Park in south Louisiana. Wow! What a show-stopper!
Photo By Leigh Spargur
It was bright and shouted “lemon” loud and clear. It was tart and sweet and just yummy! I had to have another slice. It was smooth like a custard pie but had an interesting texture, which I quickly realized were thin slices of lemon. I had to have the recipe, and my good friend graciously shared.
Steve and I made it twice with high hopes of duplicating Leigh’s delicious dessert. The first time was for the Prairie Dog‘s September Dutch Oven Gathering, we used Meyer Lemons with their luscious lemon orange color and sweet, mellow flavor.
The pie came out of the camp Dutch oven perfectly and chilled down fast enough for us to serve to our Prairie Dog friends. The flavor was perfect but the Meyer lemons were a bit tougher as compared to Leigh’s pie, so we wanted to try it again with lemons to see if there was a difference.
Our second pie was also gorgeous and delicious but still stout and not as delicate as Leigh’s pie. Yes, we were a bit disappointed. Despite the differences, we loved the pie and set out to learn more about lemons and shaker pies to share with you.
After lots of research and contemplation, I decided that we did not get the lemon slices thin enough. We used the Swissair Borner mandolin recommended by America’s Test Kitchen, which produced lovely uniform slices. But we must not have found the thinnest setting on the mandolin. The moral of the story is that shaker pie requires the absolutely thinnest slices of lemons that are physically possible.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 10 hungry friends | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 60 minutes | 12 hours |
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This pie is packed with bright lemon flavor and is so simple to put together. Since you will be serving the entire lemon, make sure to get organic lemons.
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- pie dough for double crust
- 3 Lemons organic
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- egg for egg wash
- The day before, slice lemons as thinly as possible, the thinner the better. Remove pieces of lemon seeds. Place in a bowl. Add sugar and salt. Stir until lemons are covered with sugar and salt. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator to macerate for at least 12 hours.
- Prepare 10-inch camp Dutch oven by cutting a round of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the oven. Cut three strips of parchment paper that are 18 inches long and 3 inches wide. Fold each strip in half, length wise. Lay the three long strips across the center of the oven so that the cross in the center. Adjust so that the strips lay flat across the bottom and up and over the sides. Use clothes pins to secure. Place round of parchment over the strips.
- Roll out one pie dough to 12 inches circle. Place in prepared 10-inch camp Dutch oven. Adjust to make sure that the sides come up two inches.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together eggs until creamy. Add flour and....
- ... whisk briskly until smooth.
- Pour egg/flour mixture into lemons and mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Pour into prepared 10-inch oven with pie dough.
- Lay top layer of pie dough on top. Using a table knife or small spatula, gently pull bottom pie dough away from edge and tuck the top layer behind and under. Cut openings in top. Whisk egg with one tablespoon of water together for egg wash. Brush on top. Sprinkle with large sparkling sugar.
- Fire up a large chimney of charcoal. Bake the pie at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes by placing a circle of 9 hot charcoals underneath and 18 around the lid. After 15 minutes, reduce temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit by removing 2 charcoal from the lid (total 16) and 2 from underneath (total 7). Turn lid clockwise and oven counter clockwise every 15 minutes and replace charcoals as needed to maintain heat. Remove from heat when crust is golden brown and the filling that is bubbling up is thick and gooey.
- Remove camp Dutch oven from heat. Remove lid. Let cool for 10 minutes. Place into an ice bath that brings ice half way up the side of the oven. Chill for an hour or more. Insert a table knife or thin spatula around the pie to gently break any adhesion between the pie crust and the oven. Gently lift pie out of the oven using the parchment lifters. Use a serrated knife to slice the pie.
