apple pie

The tradition & historical record

An apple pie is a fruit pie in which the principal filling is apples. It generally has shortcrust pastry both above and below the filling; the upper pastry may be solid or latticed (woven of crosswise strips). The bottom pastry base may be baked separately (known as "blind-baking") to prevent it from getting soggy. Tarte Tatin is baked with the pastry on top, but this is served the opposite way round with the fruit exposed. First recorded in the 14th century in England, apple pie recipes are now a standard part of cuisines in many countries where apples grow. Apple pie is a significant dessert in many countries of Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Due to a greater use of sugar in the recipe, American apple pies may be sweeter than European versions. ¹

The fruit in an apple pie can be made with many different varieties of apples. Common cooking apples include Cox's Orange Pippin, Braeburn, Gala, Cortland, Bramley, Empire, Northern Spy, Granny Smith, and McIntosh. The fruit for the pie can be fresh, canned, or reconstituted from dried apples in the case of dried apple pie. Dried or preserved apples were originally substituted only at times when fresh fruit was unavailable. The basic ingredients of the filling are sugar, and an acidic ingredient like lemon juice. A thickener like eggs or corn starch may be added, while butter is added in the US. Spices may be added like cinnamon or nutmeg. Lemon juice which is used to prevent oxidation of the apples when macerating the filling. Many older recipes call for honey in place of the then-expensive sugar. Most apple pies use shortcrust pastry. However, the tarte Tatin is traditionally made with puff pastry, while the Greek milopita bougatsa uses filo pastry. ¹

In the UK, custard is the traditional serving with apple pie, although cream, either whipped or poured, is also used. Apple pie in the US is often served à la mode, that is, topped with ice cream. ¹

In another serving style originating in 17th century England, a piece of sharp cheddar or Wensleydale cheese is placed on top of a slice of the finished pie. This practice also occurs in the United States and Canada, particularly in regions with dairy farms, such as New England. ¹

A commercially prepared apple pie in the United States is 52% water, 34% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and 11% fat (table). A reference serving of 100 g (3.5 oz) supplies 237 calories of food energy with no micronutrients in significant amounts (all below 10% DV, table). ¹

With apples harvested as early as the 17th century in what is now Quebec and Nova Scotia, a Canadian apple pie recipe with Limberger cheese was recorded in 1920, and a 1934 cookbook described use of Canadian-grown sour apples. Canadian apple pies include mumble crumble, Dutch apple, and an apple maple pie featuring maple syrup. ¹

The 14th century recipe collection the Forme of Cury gives a recipe including good apples, good spices, figs, raisins and pears in a cofyn, a casing of pastry. Saffron colours the filling. Lattice pastry styles were found from the 17th century alongside the more traditional dome shaped pie crust. Traditionally, apples were stewed before the pie was baked, but some modern English versions incorporate thick layers of sweetened slices of, usually, Bramley apple; layered into a dome shape to allow for downward shrinkage, and thus avoid a saggy middle; then topped with butter or lard shortcrust pastry; and baked until the apple filling is cooked. In Yorkshire, Wilfa apple cake is served on St Wilfa's day, and although called a cake, it is made with shortcrust pastry topped with Wensleydale cheese. In English-speaking countries, apple pie, often considered a comfort food, is eaten hot or cold, on its own or with cream, custard or ice cream. Apple pies are often sold in supermarkets and convenience stores as mini versions in multipacks. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Apple pie”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

apple pie is type of pie filled with apples, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 13 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²