Pie Project: Ohio Lemon Pie

"Ohio Lemon Pie"

A rather cryptic name for a mid-last-century culinary fad, started by the Shakers.
According to Joy of Cooking, this pie was big news before the age of Ron Popeil; home cooks all over the Midwest were baking up versions of this pie with that Exotic Semi-Tropical Import: the Lemon.
I found the recipe intriguing and decided to give it a try.

2 lemons, shaved paper thin (seeds removed)
(I added a small clementine also)
2 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
- Mix and let stand at room temp 1-2 days

Blend in: 4 eggs, beaten until foamy
4 T melted butter
3 T AP flour
- Pour into a chilled raw pie crust, cover with a second crust, bake until the crust is browned and the custard is set.

In a mini version, here's how round 1 looked. I folded the edges over loosely and baked it off.

Of course, being a chef, I had to make some tweaks after tasting the first batch!
The deep and bright flavors from the fruit came shining through in the finished pie - if you are a citrus fan, I recommend this lovely winter-time recipe... However, the peels themselves remained too tough for my taste even when shaved as thin as I could with Japanese steel, so I adapted it another way.

After the fruit has been broken down by the sugar, it creates an intensely flavored syrup:

 I took that liquid and pressed it from the fruit, reserving the now candied slices.  Then I added my eggs. I made a simple cobbler dough which would have the mass and creaminess to stand up to the acidic curd better than the pie pastry did.

This being a real chef-project by now, I decided to get some more flavor variety in the custard by taking sections from a ruby grapefruit.  Into the dish they went, followed by the custard.

 I fit the cobbler dough to the top, brushed with milk, and added some of the sliced fruit.

 I baked it at 350 until the cobbler dough was puffed and golden. Turned out to be delicious!

 Now, what to do with the rest of those candied citrus peels? Well, I took the remaining cobbler dough, garnished it with the peels and some granulated sugar, and baked little biscuits. Tea Party, anyone?

Now the mid-century pie gets remade and presented in a mid-century dish. Too twee? Oh well. That's just what I had lying around the house! Enjoy!