Time travel by tastebud
is an adventurous journey when made by pie.
“Vermont has been a great pie state, and it is difficult to select a typical pie.”
Dorothy Miller Calef, 1946
In this section we invite you to participate in the pie-making tradition of Vermont. These recipes are very old, dating back to the settlement of the Green Mountains. They have been passed down in families, handwritten in well-used recipe books, and served as local specialties in taverns and inns. The first seven recipes were recorded by Libbie Smith of Danby, between 1860 and 1900, collected from her family and friends. The last two recipes were among hundreds collected by Dorothy Calef for her 1946 cookbook, A Vermont Cook Book by Vermont Cooks. Calef posted ads, like the one shown above, across Vermont seeking favorite old Vermont recipes before they were lost and forgotten. Recipes flowed in, with stories and family histories attached. All of these recipes predate refrigeration and contain ingredients that eventually changed, and local taste buds and pallets adjusted. These are recipes for pie fillings, so we’ve included Libbie’s recipe for flaky pie crust at the end to keep your culinary time machine authentic! Roll up your sleeves, put on your apron, get out the rolling pin, and happy travels ahead.
A Good Pie
A Good Pie: One half a teacupful of vinegar, 1 tablespoonful of butter, 1 teacupful of molasses, 1 teacupful of dried currants, 1 egg, a little nutmeg, roll 2 soda crackers fine and add to above. You will have material for two pies. Try them and you will make more
Lemon Pie from Aunt B
1 lemon, 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of raisins chopped with the rind of the lemon, 1 egg, and water enough to fill your pie-dish half full, then sprinkle on flour.
Delicate Pie
The grated rind and juice of a lemon, 1 cup of powdered sugar, the yolks of 3 eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, 2/3 of a cup of water. Take the whites of the 3 eggs, and 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar, beat to a froth and turn it over the pie when baked. Set it in the oven again, and let it remain in 3 minutes. Will fill one crust.
Cream Pie (excellent)
Take as much thick, or sweet cream as will full your pie-dish, to which add the whites of two eggs beaten to a froth, and sugar enough to suit your taste. Flavor with lemon.
This Cream Pie recipe, already very old when Libbie wrote it down in the 1860s, appeared in Calef’s 1946 book now featuring chopped dates and jelly candies.
Good Pie-
Cider Pie
Mix 1 cup if boiled cider, i cup of water, 1 of sugar, 1 egg, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, a little salt, one crust.
Washington Pie
Stir well together: 1 cup of sugar, 1 beaten egg, 1/2 cup of butter, 1/2 cup of sweet milk, 1/2 teaspoonful soda, 1 teaspoonful cream tartar, 2 cups of flour, flavor with nutmeg. Bake in two normal tins. Turn one of the cakes bottom up on a plate and spread over jelly and lay the other cake upon it.
This recipe dates back to the late 18th century, the earliest celebrations of George Washington’s Birthday. Though called a pie, it is in fact a cake!
Vinegar Pie
Mix 2 cups of vinegar, 1 1/2 of sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls flour, and a piece of butter. Bake the same as any pie.
Sarah’s Green Mountain Pie
Cut apples in eights and fill a lower crust. Sprinkle with one cup of sugar mixed with two tablespoons of flour, a little salt and nutmeg or cinnamon. Dot with butter, and pour over half a cup of sweet cream. Place strips of pastry across the top.
Pumpkin pie has been called the most “Yankee pie” since the early 1800s, and there were many variations of it made in Vermont. Dorothy Calef received many Pumpkin Pie recipes and determined this one to be the oldest and most ‘genuine’ of them all.
Genuine Vermont Pumpkin Pie
A quart and a pint of milk
2 cups light brown sugar
2 tablespoons (heaping) pastry flour
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoons ginger
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
Butter (if you wish) size of two walnuts
2 cups of pumpkin
First select small pumpkin, bright yellow (sweet pumpkins being best if you can get them and finer grained). Cut in halves, scrape out inside to solid part, slice 2 inches broad. Peel thin and cut in 3 to 4-inch pieces. Steam in bread steamer, or anything that does not let the water reach it. After the pieces will pierce as a boiled potato when done, press them through a colander; then put the pumpkin into a large sized frying pan, the larger the surface on bottom the better. Set on top of stove (not too hot) and cook slowly, turning occasionally till dried down to a beautiful golden brown and not a particle of moisture or juice is left. I always prepare my pumpkin the day previous to baking my pies, and set away in a cool place. Now, how to put ingredients together: set dish of milk into hot water until scalding hot, then stir in the two cups of pumpkin till not a lump can be seen. Put the sugar into a good-sized dish and stir in the flour, salt and spice thoroughly. Melt butter in hot milk, then stir all together, letting milk remain in hot water until the flour has cooked 2 or 3 minutes.
The last thing before filling the crusts, beat the 3 eggs lightly and add to the rest after taking from hot water. Stir well from the bottom. I always sweeten mine more and use more spice if needed, and to taste. A pumpkin or custard pie is flat and tasteless if not well sweetened, though many do not know this. Just try it and see if I am right. Again, using as little water as possible in your pie crus so it will roll hard, will give you a crispy high crust around your pie, and for a deep pie it needs to be 1 2/3 inches high, which can be easily done by pinching it thin and high. Then you can tear a strip of old white cotton the same in width as the crust, wet it, and put around the built up crust. Have a hot oven to begin with, and take carefully off when crust has set and begun to bake. Pies should be turned ¼ around each time four or five times to give them an even baking. When done use a thin-bladed knife and cut down a little way into the center of the pie; if done the knife comes out clean.
Flaky Pie Crust
To 1 quart of flour, add 1/3 pound of lard, and 1/4 pound of butter. Mix lightly with a spoon and add cold water enough to moisten it.
Challenge: Make one of these pies and share a picture of your creation on our social media. Give the old recipe your new review!
To keep tradition going, please share your favorite pie recipe with us online, and when it is again possible, please join us in the future for the Great Pie Auction!
Pie Math
How many eggs would you need if you made all of these recipes twice?
Use the key to decipher this code and proceed.