Pioneer Vinegar Pie

by Back to the Basics--Hope for the best, Prepare for the Worst on Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 9:21pm
The Request: This search is for my friend and third grade teacher, Wava, who will soon celebrate her 90th birthday. She remembers her mother making Vinegar Pie when she was a small girl and Wava’s grandmother made Vinegar Pie as a Kansas Pioneer, while living in a sod house in Western Kansas. Vinegar Pie was a pie that pioneers made in the winter when the dried fruits had been depleted. I’ve included two Vinegar Pie recipes. The second Vinegar Pie recipe is very basic (the instructions are a bit vague) and probably more like what the pioneers made when supplies were low. The pie is suppose to have a rather fruity flavor.



Vinegar Pie

2 tablespoons butter
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. ground allspice
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 cup water

1 9” pie crust that had been briefly baked (about 3 minutes) at 450 degrees

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Sift together flour and spices then add to flour mixture, mix well. Beat in egg, vinegar and water. Pour into a double boiler and cook over boiling water until thick. Pour into the pie shell and bake about 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Pioneer Vinegar Pie
1 egg
1 heaping tablespoon flour
1 c sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat these ingredients together and add 1 tablespoon of sharp vinegar and a cup of cold water. Flavor with a little nutmeg and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Cover with second pie crust and flute edges. Bake for an hour.