Recipe from Elisabeth Prueitt
Adapted by Tejal Rao
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus 8 hours' marinating
- Rating
- 4(231)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Thanksgiving often coincides with the arrival of all kinds of great citrus, which is why the chef Elisabeth Prueitt, of Tartine in San Francisco, offered this take on a classic Shaker lemon pie. Traditionally made from whole lemons, this version also incorporates blood oranges and cardamom, and it’s a bright, welcome addition to the pecan and pumpkin desserts this time of year. Start it the day before by slicing the fruit and leaving it to sit in sugar overnight, then mix it with beaten eggs the next day. At home, Ms. Prueitt uses her tangy all-purpose cream cheese dough, which also happens to be gluten-free, but you could use regular pie dough if you prefer. Baking the pan directly on the oven floor (or on a baking stone placed on the oven floor) helps ensure that it browns evenly. —Tejal Rao
Featured in: Behind the Famed Tartine Bakery, a Gluten-Free Talent
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Ingredients
Yield:1 9-inch pie
- 2medium lemons
- 1blood orange or navel orange
- 2cups/400 grams granulated sugar
- 5large eggs
- ¼teaspoon salt
- ¾teaspoon ground cardamom
- Cream cheese dough (see recipe), or use regular pie dough
- Cornstarch or tapioca starch, for rolling dough
- 1tablespoon cream
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Using a mandoline or a sharp knife, slice lemons and orange paper-thin, discarding the thick, pithy ends and any seeds. Put in a glass bowl and toss with granulated sugar. Cover and let sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Step
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Roll out the pie dough: Place one dough disk on a surface lightly dusted with cornstarch or tapioca. Roll dough to ⅛ inch/3 millimeters thick, rolling from the center evenly out in all directions. If the dough is cracking and is not pliable, let it sit at room temperature a little longer to warm up. Dust with additional cornstarch as needed to discourage sticking.
Step
3
Cut out a circle 2 inches/5 centimeters larger than the pie pan. Carefully lift dough and transfer to pan, easing dough into the bottom and sides but not stretching or pressing too firmly, or it will shrink during baking. If dough tears, patch with a little extra dough, pressing gently to adhere. Trim dough, leaving a ¼-inch overhang. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, and roll second dough disk in the same way.
Step
4
If any seeds have floated to top of citrus mixture, fish them out. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, salt and cardamom until blended, then add to the lemon mixture, mixing thoroughly.
Step
5
Heat oven to 350 degrees. If you have a baking stone, place it on the oven floor. Pour lemon filling into chilled shell, evenly distributing citrus pieces, and moisten the edge of the shell with water. Gently transfer upper crust onto the pie. Crimp the dough together using your fingers or a fork, and trim so it is flush with the edge of the pan and there is no overhang.
Step
6
Brush the top of the dough with the cream and chill for 20 minutes. Cut small vents in the top of the dough with a sharp knife, then place pie on baking stone or directly on the oven floor for 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack in the middle of the oven and bake another 30 to 40 minutes, until the top crust is golden brown and cooked through. Let cool before dusting with confectioners' sugar and serving.
Ratings
4
out of 5
231
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Cooking Notes
Bubikon
This is shown as baked in a tart pan, not a pi9e pan. The description for rolling and placing the dough are specific to a pie dish. However, it does have a tendency to seep out of a tart pan because the filling has a lot of liquid, causing one to skip or shorten the last refrigeration. I recommend putting parchment paper in the bottom of the tart pan to help a little. This is a very nice recipe.
Sue
you could cut down some, but remember the sugar will be mellowing the bitter agents in the peel as well as the natural tartness and acidity of the pulp. Maybe cut out 1/2 c of sugar? Depends on your personal taste how much more you could reduce, I suppose. And if you serve with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream. Chantilly cream might be nice, less sugar in that. Or creme fraiche.
AnaMaria
I can’t place pie dish directly on the oven floor because I have an electric stove, ugh, can I just place the pie dish on the middle rack and for how long?Also, I’m using regular pie dough, do I️ still need to use tapioca starch?Thank you!
Jean/ Holland Ohio
Whenever I have entered a Shaker Lemon Pie in a pie baking contest fundraiser —in 3 different states—it always is the winning pie.
Andy
It’s odd- the pie as pictured looks to have a filling more solid than liquid, but I ended up with a custard, exactly what one would expect from citrus, sugar and eggs. I would mince the citrus next time. The whole slices looked pretty but can be a mouthful.
Randy
The store had beautiful Meyer lemons, so I made the pie with those. Because Meyers are sweeter, I used 4 of them, reduced the sugar to 1.5 cups and left out the orange. And as always, I used the outstanding, easy all-butter crust from Joy of Baking dot com. I'll make this pie every time I see Meyers in the store. If you don't own a mandolin, this pie is an excellent reason to get one.
yuMNy
Following other’s recs, I froze 4 Meyer lemons before slicing them with my handheld mandoline. They macerated for over 12 hours because I got lazy, and then went into the filling. I used a standard all butter pie crust in a tart pan lined with a round of parchment paper, and wrapped it in foil in case there was any leak. I was nervous about baking it on the floor of the oven, but the crust was PERFECT. The cardamom complemented the Meyer lemon so well that no one even noticed it was there! 10/10
CathyS
While this citrus pie is undoubtedly delicious, if you would like a true Shaker Lemon Pie experience, the recipe is easily googled. A true Shaker Lemon Pie has few ingredients: thinly sliced lemons, sugar, eggs in a double crust. It is a delight for the sincere lemon lover.
Ert
This pie was basically inedible because of the rinds on the citrus. The custardy part of the filling was delicious though. Maybe cooking the citrus first would help, but as is not a single person at the table enjoyed this.
OV
Press the dough into the baking dish and THEN freeze
BB
I’ve made a couple of shaker lemon pies, but this was the first where I felt the filling wasn’t bitter at all! It was really delicious, even though I just used another lemon instead instead of an orange. It was just on the right side of too tart, and perfect with ice cream. The cream cheese crust was a little bland, but it’s sturdy to hold up to the filling w/ only minor leaks.Because it bakes on the bottom, the raised edge got a bit overcooked. Next time, I will cut off more of the excess
Liz
While I opted for a single all-butter crust (par baked), to really showcase the Meyer lemon filling, this unctuous filling was met with rave reviews (me) alone in my house during lockdown. I wanted a straight lemon flavour so omitted the cardamom, and added 3tbsp flour to the mixture before popping it in the oven. It's a stunning pie, with a beautiful sort of marmalade-cum-custard consistency, that I will make over and over.
MamaO
I used only 1 cup of sugar to marinate the lemons/orange. Glad I only used half of the sugar as it is perfectly sweet. I also used a basic cream cheese pie dough (not GF) and it was very easy to substitute in this recipe.
note to self
Final time was:425 - 15 min400 - 10 min350 - 40 min
dominique
Wow, okay, so this was not easy! But that’s probably because I’ve not made a pie before (gluten free or not) so was really unsure at each stage (the dough ingredients didn’t incorporate well in my food processor, the dough seemed too rigid after refrigeration, and I had to patch a ton) and certain it wasn’t going to turn out. But it did!! Really nice, delicious flavors and great texture. Mine wasn’t as pretty as the picture but I suppose that means I’ll have to make it again to practice :)
Randy
The store had beautiful Meyer lemons, so I made the pie with those. Because Meyers are sweeter, I used 4 of them, reduced the sugar to 1.5 cups and left out the orange. And as always, I used the outstanding, easy all-butter crust from Joy of Baking dot com. I'll make this pie every time I see Meyers in the store. If you don't own a mandolin, this pie is an excellent reason to get one.
Andy
It’s odd- the pie as pictured looks to have a filling more solid than liquid, but I ended up with a custard, exactly what one would expect from citrus, sugar and eggs. I would mince the citrus next time. The whole slices looked pretty but can be a mouthful.
Carrie
This pie remains an enigma in my house. Would it have worked had I baked it in a tart pan, as the picture shows? This goes against the recipe instructions. But then, the recipe instructions also state to bake this on the floor of the oven, which is something no one has ever told me to do in my thirty years of pie baking. It’s very soupy pie: the acidic filling dissolved the crust immediately. All I got from this recipe was clouds of smoke and a chance to clean my oven.
Randy
I'm reasonably certain they used the wrong photo. I've made lemon shaker pie several times and the filling doesn't look anything like whatever that is.
Jean/ Holland Ohio
Whenever I have entered a Shaker Lemon Pie in a pie baking contest fundraiser —in 3 different states—it always is the winning pie.
Maia
I’m curious if this could be made without the cream? We have dairy issues here.
AnaMaria
I can’t place pie dish directly on the oven floor because I have an electric stove, ugh, can I just place the pie dish on the middle rack and for how long?Also, I’m using regular pie dough, do I️ still need to use tapioca starch?Thank you!
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