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Lemon Pie With the WHOLE Lemon

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Whole Lemon Pie with dish of lemons
The pie made with whole lemons.
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You’ll find the recipe called Shaker Lemon Pie or Ohio Lemon Pie, but whatever it is called, this is not your mother’s lemon meringue pie.

I call it Whole Lemon Pie because that’s what it is. It turns lemons into a fruit-filled, double crust pie. Don’t be shy, it is just another fruit pie. And you know that you can use the Perfect Pie Crust recipe for great results in your lemon pie.

I have to admit that I have no recollection of eating this pie in Ohio, so assume that name came along because the Shakers had a colony in Ohio. If you want to see the recipes I DID know about–see the post that has my Grandmother’s lemon pie recipe.

The key to the Whole Lemon Pie is slicing those lemons really, really, thin, and if you have a Mandoline, that might be best. I don’t have one because I’m convinced my fingers would get sliced, too, but if you have one, or if you’re brave and want to get one…. Otherwise, make sure your knife is really, really sharp.

One of the many types of Mandoline:

A slice of Whole Lemon Pie
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Whole Lemon Pie

Also known as Shaker and Sometimes as Ohio Pie, this pie has thinly sliced lemons and a double crust.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword fruit, lemon, pie
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Resting Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 8
Author Vera Marie Badertscher

Ingredients

  • Double Crust Pastry
  • 2 lemons large or medium
  • 2 Cups sugar
  • 1/4 twp salt
  • 4 eggs large
  • 4 tbsp butter melted
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • sugar Demera–for top if desired.

Instructions

  • Grate the zest off the lemons. Slice the lemons very, very thin. Cut slices in 1/2 or 1/4.
  • Mix the zest and lemon slices with sugar and salt in glass or aluminum bowl, Mix gently, cover, and leave to macerate a few hours to overnight. (Overnight is best) Mix again a few times while it is macerating.
  • When you are ready to bake the pie, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out 1/2 of dough and line pie pan. Put in refrigerator.
  • Whisk 4 eggs until frothy, then whisk in the melted butter.
  • Mix in the flour until there are no lumps. Stir together with the lemon/sugar mixture. Don’t worry about the liquid. That has collected on the lemons. Just stir it in and it will solidify in baking.
  • Roll out the 2nd half of the dough for pie top, fill the pie with the lemon mixture and top with the pie top. Make slits or holes for the steam to release. Fold the edges of the top under the edges of the bottom, and crimp. Return to refrigerator for 1/2 hour.
  • Sprinkle top with Demera sugar if you wish. Put pie pan on cookie sheet in middle of hot oven and bake 20 minutes.
  • Lower temperature to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes more, or until the top crust puffs up and knife inserted in center comes out clean.
  • Let cool to room temperature before cutting. After it is totally cool, can be stored in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Notes

These ingredients are from the Joy of Cooking Cookbook, and apply to a 9″ pie pan.
The key to a good whole lemon pie is to get the lemon slices extremely thin.  If you use a mandoline, that would be best. Otherwise, use a very sharp knife and take your time.
My Pyrex pie pan is larger, and so I increased the ingredients to 3 lemons, 3 cups of sugar, 5 eggs, 5 Tablespoons melted butter, and 4 Tablespoons of flour. 
You can see in the picture that the crimped edge of my pie disappeared in baking. That is because I ran out of time and did not refrigerate after putting on the top crust. So, lesson learned.  Do as I say, not as I do!