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Sweet Baked Goods Vinegar Pie

vinegar pie
512px-Chess_pie.jpg
(from The Practical Housekeeper and Young Woman's Friend by Marion L. Scott, 1855)

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar​
1/2 cup of water​
2 tbsp. vinegar​
1 tsp. essence of lemon​
1 tbsp. of flour​
2 pie crusts​
Instructions:
One cup of brown sugar, half a cup of water, two tablespoonsful of vinegar, one teaspoonful of essence of lemon, a tablespoonful of flour. Bake between two crusts, moderately half an hour.​


vinegar pie
(from Hand Book of Practical Receipts, Or, Useful Hints in Every Day Life, published by A.S. Barnes & Burr, 1860)

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. vinegar​
4 tbsp. sugar​
2 tbsp. water​
a rich pie paste for baking​
Instructions:
Three table spoons of vinegar (if good), four do. sugar, two do. of water; bake in rich paste; it is delicious.​
(* CWT Note: The abbreviation do. in this recipe means "ditto", as in repeat the previous measurement unit. In this recipe, the author is avoiding repeating tablespoons again and again!)​


Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel just had show on early Kentucky Food. One of the featured recipes was Vinegar Pie. This pie dates back to early pioneers and was very popular in the 1800s. It came into existence as a dessert for families who had only the basic ingredients.

Laura Ingalls Wilder mentions vinegar pie in her book "Little House In the Woods. She writes about eating it at Christmastime.

Photo by Eunice [CC BY-SA 2.0]
 
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This is one which looks good, but I would like to hear from someone who has tried this pie first. Sounds good and looks good are ok, but I want to know who has tried the recipe first. I just need to know how good it really is to eat.
 
This is one which looks good, but I would like to hear from someone who has tried this pie first. Sounds good and looks good are ok, but I want to know who has tried the recipe first. I just need to know how good it really is to eat.
I made one years ago... it's much like Buttermilk Pie, which is one of my favorites. Can't vouch for these specific recipes, but I bet if Donna picked the recipe, it's fine. Mine came from Paul Brinegar, who played the cook, Wishbone, on Rawhide.

Oops, forgot... it was a chuckwagon staple on trail drives and the big ranches he worked on. He asked me to make it after I wondered aloud about it.
 
I made one years ago... it's much like Buttermilk Pie, which is one of my favorites. Can't vouch for these specific recipes, but I bet if Donna picked the recipe, it's fine. Mine came from Paul Brinegar, who played the cook, Wishbone, on Rawhide.

Oops, forgot... it was a chuckwagon staple on trail drives and the big ranches he worked on. He asked me to make it after I wondered aloud about it.

Paul Brinegar had a recipe for vinegar pie? Ooh, you've got to put it up! I remember very vaguely hearing that he collected recipes and liked to entertain with his home cooking. Maybe that was just publicity for his part on Rawhide!
 
Goodness. They could make anything into Christmas desert, couldn't they? Vinegar! Amazing. You know, we have those cooking shows currently, and a lot of them. I don't watch frequently simply because well, tough sitting still long enough for one thing. Bet one of our early cooks, whoever made vinegar into pie for instance, would have the experts watching them.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.rsl7xx;view=1up;seq=5

Donna, just had a shot at looking for more recipes in public access. This book doesn't have it but is a public access Southern cook book, by a group of ladies. Bet you'll find a gazillion familiar recipes there.
 
What role does the vinegar play in that? I noticed there is no cream contained, just water, egg and flour. Does the vinegar anything to make the incredients act (and look) like some kind of cream?
It definitely looks delicious! Like custard.
I had to think about this and it really is a simple answer,just like a key lime pie is made with sweetened condensed milk the lime juice is an acid which causes the mixture to thicken (curdle) and the vinegar which is a strong acid does the same thing here as it gives the mixture it's body.
 
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I had to think about this and it really is a simple answer,just like a key lime pie is made with sweetness condensed milk the lime juice is an acid which causes the mixture to thicken (curdle) and the vinegar which is a strong acid does the same thing here as it gives the mixture it's body.

Yes, that's probably it. As it happens, I made a mustard sauce yesterday (hard boiled eggs with mustard sauce and potatoes on the side is a common dish in Germany. You will not find it in restaurants, but at home it is a favourite with many). Same thing with the mustard sauce. At first the sauce that is made from flour and milk/cream etc. always seems to be too thin, but once the mustard is added, it becomes quite thick and nice. But wherever there is acid, a little sugar needs to be added for balance. My Grandma's advice, so it must be true!
:smug:
 
Yes, that's probably it. As it happens, I made a mustard sauce yesterday (hard boiled eggs with mustard sauce and potatoes on the side is a common dish in Germany. You will not find it in restaurants, but at home it is a favourite with many). Same thing with the mustard sauce. At first the sauce that is made from flour and milk/cream etc. always seems to be too thin, but once the mustard is added, it becomes quite thick and nice. But wherever there is acid, a little sugar needs to be added for balance. My Grandma's advice, so it must be true!
:smug:
I think I could enjoy that.
 
To be true, it might beat down the taste of the Schnitzel. We have it usually with fried (and breaded) or deep fried fish fillet. That's awesome, too, maybe even more yummy than eggs in mustard sauce. As a kid I hated fish (sitll don't like very much). I could only be brought to eat some fish if there were lots of mustard sauce coming with it!
 
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To be true, it might beat down the taste of the Schnitzel. We have it usually with fried (and breaded) or deep fried fish fillet. That's awesome, too, maybe even more yummy than eggs in mustard sauce. As a kid I hated fish (sitll don't like very much). I could only brought to eat some fish if there were lots of mustard sauce coming with it!
Didn't think about using it on fish,but I do remember a salmon dish that had a mustard sauce.we had fried fish last night would have like to have tried it.
 
Though you don't want it drowning the fish,

I guess that depends ... :D
For me, the more I tasted the sauce and not the fish, the better ...
I have to admit, to the way I like fish best, redfish with a nice breaded crust, prepared like a Schnitzel, a heavier sauce doesn't do any damage. I'm aware that true fish lovers will shiver, but the "Banausen" (= ignorants) like me sure welcome everything that make a fish taste less like fish ...
 
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