For #PieWeek, our guest editors are Emily and Melissa Elsen, the pie mavens behind Four & Twenty Blackbirds in Brooklyn, NY. They will be sharing recipes all week from their first cookbook, and giving away a copy each day!
Today: A winter pie that still manages to be bright and tangy.
Lemon Chess has garnered a close following in our pie shop. It appears most often on the menu during the winter months, when fresh fruits are scarce on the East coast and we source from the West coast for its bounty of citrus. This tangy but rich custard is a longtime favorite of our pie shop customers.
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Lemon Chess Pie
Serves 8 to 10 people
Zest of 1 lemon
1 2/3 cup cups of granulated sugar
1 tablespoon stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 large eggs
2/3 cups heavy cream
7 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
Photo by Gentl & Hyers
To win a copy of The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book, tell us in the comments: What is your favorite winter pie? We'll pick winners at random at the end of the week! (Unfortunately, we can only ship domestically.)
Written by: ElsenEM
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118 Comments
goldengrain
July 2, 2017
That Four and Twenty Lemon pie is HORRIBLE! It tastes like that filling between layers of coconut cake. In the cake it's good because the sweetness and tartness counter the subtlety of the cake. Imagine taking the entire can of that cake filling and dumping it in a pie crust. Imagine eating that filling by the spoonfull right from the can.
That's what this tastes like. Dumping a can of that layer cake filling. I had to throw it out. It was unfit for eating.
That's what this tastes like. Dumping a can of that layer cake filling. I had to throw it out. It was unfit for eating.
Paula R.
November 18, 2013
Well, let's see. . . Anything Pear. No, wait. How about Kentucky Derby. No, wait.
Maybe an unusual cheesecake, but, then again, citrusy is luscious. Oh, boy. Pretty much all of them!
Maybe an unusual cheesecake, but, then again, citrusy is luscious. Oh, boy. Pretty much all of them!
Chip_Head
November 18, 2013
Pecan pie (from America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book) made with and fool-proof double-crust pie dough (uses vodka in recipe for a flakier pie crust). Time intensive but worth every minute.
Tara M.
November 17, 2013
My granny's pecan pie -- it's a full-on nostalgia rush (or perhaps it's the sugar...)
Lori M.
November 17, 2013
Favorite winter pie would have to be chocolate...any kind of chocolate pie will do, but a dollop of fresh whipped cream on top is a must.
Terri J.
November 17, 2013
For savory pie it's a French version of shepherds pie, for Sweet version it's gotta be buttered apples drenched in cognac and a dash of freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon.
Blake
November 17, 2013
Growing up in the South, my favorite was pecan. Now that I live in Southern California, my favorite is actually Lemon Chess - made with local Meyer lemons. Of course, what pie isn't good?
Dorothy M.
November 17, 2013
My favorite winter pie is Mince Meat pie. However, since I am the only one in my family who likes it, I hardly ever make it. My bad luck.
Margaret H.
November 17, 2013
The housekeeper of my former boss made a sweet potato pie that was the same texture as a chess pie but with lemon flavoring instead of the usual spice. It was divine and she wouldn't give us the recipe. Such a shame cause I would have always called it "Louise's Sweet Potato Pie" and remembered her every time. Never understood not sharing you recipes. I need to figure this out!
Don
November 17, 2013
Many memories of having my mom take out huckleberries she had picked in the summer and making a pie for Christmas Eve dinner!!! A great tradition I carry on to this day.
Nick L.
November 17, 2013
My favorite winter pie is chess pie! My mom used to make it all the time and I haven't had a really good one since I was a kid!
Andshewas
November 17, 2013
Bourbon pecan for me, but I end up making buttermilk pie because it reminds my husband of his mom who passed during the holidays years ago,
Susan N.
November 15, 2013
My favorite pie is pumpkin pie. I could eat it all year long. Thank goodness for canned pumpkin!
J.B.
November 15, 2013
In winter the construction, then consumption of "sour cherry" pie utilizing canned or frozen fruit delights my DH. My Meyer Lemons are ripe and ready for lemon pie too! Yum!
Leaf
November 15, 2013
I really love a well baked apple pie with a homemade butter crust that sparkles with sugar but of course I will always love a pumpkin or blackberry pie!
cookinginvictoria
November 15, 2013
I am in the citrus camp too. In the winter, I most often reach for meyer lemons and key limes to flavor my pies and tarts. I also still long for summer fruits in the winter, so often I will bake one of the frozen pies from my stash in the refrigerator -- currently I have both raspberry pies and rhubarb pies in my freezer, both made with fresh fruit picked from my garden this summer. :)
cookinginvictoria
November 15, 2013
Oops -- typing too fast: the line above should read ". . . so often I will bake one of the frozen pies from my stash in the freezer. . ."
Meghan
November 14, 2013
I've always been smitten with my grandma's apple pies- but only hers. It was the first recipe she ever taught me, and to this day I recall the magic I felt when she exposed to me her 'secret ingredient'. And to this day, I use it in my own pies, but they're still never good as hers.
Jen
November 14, 2013
I love southern carmel pie; I have never found this pie anywhere except at our family gatherings.
TerryMtz
November 14, 2013
My favorite winter pie is chocolate/bourbon pecan. I love David Lebovitz's recipe!
Dominika U.
November 14, 2013
Sweet potato pie is my new favorite for this year. With warm spices, and a torched fluffy marshmallow meringue. Yum!
Bascula
November 14, 2013
I like a Marlborough (applesauce) pie once in a while. Easy to make with wintery ingredients~
Kate
November 14, 2013
PECAN! It has the best texture, tends to be less sweet, and is a southern tradition (pronounced pih-CAHN).
cfelten
November 14, 2013
In the winter I love pumpkin, pecan and dutch apple pies. This, however, might be a new contender.
monica_m
November 14, 2013
Pumpkin pie with a good amount of ginger it. Best kinda pie this time of year.
adrienne
November 14, 2013
Dutch Apple Pie and Sweet Potato Pie...mmmmm. Perfect for breakfast, lunch and midnight snacking
walkie74
November 14, 2013
Pecan pie. I rarely get it anymore, now that the whole family has health issues *sigh*
laurenspacek
November 14, 2013
in the winter my pies tend to shit more towards the savory persuasion. i love chicken pot pie in the winter. for dessert i continue to make apple pie year round. i just can't stop. it's my favorite regardless of the season.
AntoniaJames
November 14, 2013
Do tarts count? If so, this one: http://food52.com/recipes/10017-ricotta-filled-chocolate-and-pecan-tart inspired by the Sicilian wedding cake known as "Cassata," which my mother often served at her December holiday dinner parties and open houses. For a true pie? I must confess that during the dead of winter, I go to my pantry and grab a quart jar of blueberry pie filling, canned in July or August by me within an hour or two after picking the berries from the bushes lining my front walkway. I also have a wonderful bourbon buttermilk chess pie, sweetened with just a touch of molasses, that I developed years ago; Toward the end of the baking time, once the custard has firmed up, I top it with pecans that have been roasted in a bourbon syrup. It's perfect with the Brunswick Stew (squirrel free, I might add) that's been a Christmas Eve tradition in my very southern husband's family for generations. ;o)
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