Classic Vinegar Pie - Easy Old Fashioned Pie Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What is vinegar pie made of? ›

Combine 1/2 cup melted, cooled butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons self-rising flour, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and 3 eggs in a large bowl or blender. Mix well. Pour the filling into a 9-inch unbaked pie shell. (I used store-bought for convenience.)

But there are two much more important perks to using vinegar: it provides a little insurance against overworking the dough. And, that splash of vinegar will keep your dough from oxidizing and turning gray. Fresh All-Butter Pie Dough with vinegar (right) and without (left).

Vinegar can also promote a flaky crust because like vodka, it's been distilled and doesn't encourage the formation of gluten. Apple cider vinegar and rice vinegar also form a tender pie dough and add a bit of flavor. You can also discourage gluten from forming in your pie dough via technique.

Why do some pie crust recipes call for vinegar? Vinegar can affect the gluten development in dough. Gluten gives dough structure, but too much gluten development can make dough tough. Acid can hinder gluten development; so, a bit of vinegar (or lemon juice) can make pie dough slightly more tender.

Millionaire pie is a no-bake pie consisting of a rich base of sweetened condensed milk, Cool Whip, and cream cheese that's combined with crushed pineapple and pecans. The filling is then poured into a graham cracker crust and chilled in the refrigerator until set.

It was in the 1950s that Key lime pie was promoted as Florida's "most famous treat" and in 1987 as "the greatest of all regional American desserts."

Mixing baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar (acetic acid) causes a chemical reaction that produces a salt (sodium acetate) and water, as well as carbon dioxide gas. In this demonstration, baking soda is placed in a balloon that is attached to a flask holding vinegar.

Baking involves more than just flavor — there's chemistry going on here! Apple cider vinegar's function in most baked good recipes is to supply acid. The acid reacts with a base to leaven our baked goods by creating little bubbles. With proper leavening, our baked goods rise appropriately and have a better crumb.

Sugar: Not all pie crusts have sugar, but those that do will be more tender since sugar interferes with gluten development. In our experience, sugar can also make the pie dough so tender that it's hard to roll out and transfer to your pan without breaking. Egg: This makes the dough more pliable and easy to roll out.

What is the main purpose of adding vodka in pie dough? ›

Unlike water, alcohol does not contribute to the formation of gluten, the network of proteins that can cause a crust to turn leathery. Because the alcohol burns off quickly in the oven, drying out the crust, we could add enough vodka to keep the dough wet and extremely supple.

The pie dough is overworked from excessive mixing or rolling. Whether you use a food processor, a stand mixer, or your hands to incorporate the ingredients together, overmixing is a common mistake that leads to a chewy crust.

Use Very Cold Butter or Fat

Butter, shortening, lard, or suet—whatever fat the recipe calls for should be well-chilled and cut into small pieces to start with for the flakiest crust in the end. The fat in a pie crust must maintain some of its integrity in the dough to make the crust truly flaky.

The acid in the apple cider vinegar tenderizes the dough by slowing the gluten production in the dough. This prevents it from getting tough and elastic like bread dough. Love me tender. If you've ever bitten into a slice of pie with a tough crust, you know the value in a tender, flaky pie crust.

The more solid the butter remains before it's baked, the flakier your crust will be. Add some baking powder to the dough. The leavener helps lift and aerate the crust, allowing it to expand into the dish while it bakes.

Vinegar is a combination of acetic acid and water made by a two-step fermentation process. First, yeast feed on the sugar or starch of any liquid from a plant food such as fruits, whole grains, potatoes, or rice. This liquid ferments into alcohol.

Chinese black vinegar—known usually in its most popular form, Chinkiang or Zhenjiang vinegar—is deeply colored and tastes fruity (though it's less sweet than balsamic), with a touch of umami richness. It's made by adding acetic acid and bacteria to glutinous rice, usually, but also to wheat, millet, or sorghum.

A mother of vinegar, that is. Yes, it looks rather grungy and scary, floating on the top of the vinegar like that, but this spongy mass of bacteria is completely harmless.

Fruit vinegar is made from the fermented fruit juices of apples, mangoes, plums, citrus fruits, grapes, berries, or other fruits. The whole fruit or fruit scraps may be used to produce it.