Grandma's Lemon Pie

Ingredients:

2 large fresh lemons
2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sifted flour
Grated rind of 2 fresh lemons


Preparation:

  • Use two large, fresh lemons, grate off the rind, and reserve it for the filling of the pie.
  • Pare off every bit of the white skin of the lemon (as it toughens while cooking); then cut the lemon into very thin slices with a sharp knife and take out the seeds.
  • Use medium size deep pie-dish and line it with pastry.
  • Put into the pie crust a layer of lemon, then one of sugar, then one of the grated rind and, a layer of flour, and so on until all the ingredients are used.
  • Sprinkle the water over all, cover with upper crust, and bake for about forty to forty-five minutes.

TIP: Make sure to have the under crust lap over the upper crust, and pinch it well, as the syrup will cook all out if care is not taken when finishing the edge of crust.

Makes one medium-sized pie.



Real Cooking
Did You Know?
In case a one-crust pie, the kind of filling to be used determines whether the crust should be baked first or not. For pies that require comparatively long baking, such as pumpkin pie, for instance, the raw crust is filled with the mixture and the two, crust and mixture, are then baked in the oven together. However, if the filling is one that does not require baking for any length of time, that is, time sufficient to bake the pastry, or if the filling requires a temperature that would be too low to bake the pastry, the crust should be baked first. In such an event, it is necessary to prick very thoroughly the bottom and the sides of the crust with a fork, so that the air that is confined in the pastry will not make bubbles by pushing the pastry up as it expands in baking.

A perforated pie tin is an advantage in the baking of shells or single-crust pies, for it prevents the air from becoming confined between the pan and the crust and producing air spaces that would cause blisters to form as the pie is baked. If desired, the crust may be placed over the back of the pan and baked, thus forming a shell that may be filled with a cooked filling and served.