Vinegar Pie is pie that uses vinegar to give it a tangy taste.
It was probably made with a vinegar such as cider vinegar, rather than the modern distilled white vinegar. Vinegars to avoid appear to be white vinegar and malt vinegar.
The vinegar should add just a touch of subtle tartness, to fool the tastebuds into thinking there’s fruit in there.
Some recipes call for a lot of vinegar and end up tasting like vinegar.
Some recipes advise using lemon as well, but purists say the pie should pass or fail on its own merits. After all, it was made before lemons were available.
Though not all versions used eggs, most were thickened with eggs and flour.
The ingredient list is sugar, eggs, butter, water, vinegar and flour. These are mixed, and cooked until thickened, over a double-boiler if you wish.
This mixture is poured in an unbaked pie shell with no top crust, and baked in a moderate oven until crust browns and it starts to set.
The filling will set more once the pie is out of the oven and cooled.
The cooked filling has the consistency of a lemon pie, and will be yellow coloured from the egg yolks.
