Recipe Redux: Tears On My Pillow Pie

As I began studying Amish culinary culture a couple of decades ago, this recipe stood out because of its unusual name. The Amish have all sorts of pie confections with odd names:  shoofly pie, whoopie pies, and Bob Andy pie to name just a few.  But then there’s this one: tears-on-your-pillow pie.  Where the heck did it get it’s name?  I’ve never really been able to establish an answer.  One theory I’ve read is that the pie can collapse in the oven, because it’s a very thin pie and maybe that gave rise to “tears on the pillow” from an upset Amish housewife trying to make a pie.  I’ve made the pie a couple of times.  The first time it didn’t really turn out, but I didn’t weep, I just tried again and it came out OK.  Here is a photo of how the pie is supposed to look like from one of our recipe-testers and the recipe itself is below.  This pie doesn't seem as popular as it once was as many Amish cooks have moved on to more sophisticated pie recipes, this one really is quite simple, but very flavorful if you get it right!