My Aunt Isabel was a food writer and restaurant critic for the New York Herald Tribune in the 1960s and 70s, and when she retired she wrote freelance articles featuring her family history as told through recipes. One of her stories, which she submitted to the Wisconsin Historical Society for the Wisconsin Heritage Cookbook, was of childhood summers when her mother, my paternal grandmother, Nonna, often made a Sunny Silver Pie for her five children when they were enjoying their summer vacation at a lake house. Reading the article that Aunt Isabel sent to me, the pie sounded magical. I have made it several times for my sister and nephew Evan, both of whom now are the guardians of our family history.
A few months before her recent death, my sister and I visited our Aunt Edith, Nonna’s daughter- in- law. 
Aunt Edith had great stories about our father’s side of the family which she told with her inimitable wit and grace. During our reminiscences, I mentioned the article about the recipe for Sunny Silver Pie that Aunt Isabel had written, and that I now enjoy making. Aunt Edith then added to the tale of this pie by telling us that her mother, Mrs. Lillie, also made this recipe, and in fact, had served it at a party celebrating the engagement of Edith to Nonna’s youngest child, Allan. Aunt Edith still recalled the mortified look on Nonna’s face when she learned that someone else also served her signature pie. I now am calling this the “pie that binds”, since their mothers had this pie in common, and the marriage of Edith and Allan was long and full.
People: Three generations of women for whom one pie holds special meaning.
Places: Aunt Edith’s home in Winnetka, Illinois where we reminisced and learned another tale about this heirloom pie.
Pies: Sunny Silver Pie. Aunt Isabel, in her story for the Wisconsin Historical Society, described the pie as “…..mouth-melting with a hint of mellow lemon tang and gossamer texture….” An apt description, indeed! Today, a hot, summer day evocative of childhood memories at lake houses, I made this pie in honor of Aunt Edith, to whom I am grateful fo
r giving me the opportunity to add another dimension to the enjoyment of such a memorable pie.
- 1 baked 9 inch pie shell
- Filling:
- 3 eggs separated
- 1 lemon, grated rind and juice
- 1 ½ teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- ⅓ cup cold water
- Sweetened whipped cream
- For the filling
- Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Combine with grated lemon rind and juice and ½ cup sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils, 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in gelatin which has been soaked in the water. Let cool. Meanwhile, beat egg whites until they hold a stiff peak. Gradually add the remaining ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating constantly. Fold into lemon mixture. Pour into a baked pie shell. Let cool until set. Serve covered or garnished with whipped cream.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I work for the Hunterdon County Historical Society where I’ve been working on oral histories of some of our older residents. Two 90-plus year olds that I interviewed both talked about the sunny silver pie they had at a restaurant in town going back to the 1930s. I have been trying to find a pie recipe that, to me, would be most like what they would have had at that time. And this one seems closest to the mark. Can’t wait to make this.