Apple Pies

Perhaps the most famous apple dish, there is hardly anything more English than apple pie. For hundreds of years it has been a standby of English and particularly Yorkshire cooking - and a highly popular one. As the English humorous poet, William King, put it:

‘Of all the several kings of sumptuous fare,

There is none that can with apple pie compare.’

The apple pie dates back to the Middle Ages. There are hundreds of versions, some pies encased in pastry, some without bottom but with an upper crust and some open tarts. Nearly all use short crust pastry as already suggested in the sixteenth century cook book, ‘A Proper Newe Book of Cookery’. Margaret Dods summed up the essentials of apple pie making in her ‘Cook and Housewife’s Manual’ of 1829: ‘A variety of apples are used for baking, though russettings, Ribstone pippins, golden pippins, and such as are little acid, are esteemed the best. Apple-pie is generally seasoned with pounded cinnamon and cloves, lemon-grate, quince marmalade, candied citron or orange-peel.’ The choice of apples, culinary or dessert, depends on whether a purée or whole apple slices or rings, are required. The natural accompaniment for apple pie is cream. As Robert Louis Stevenson put it:

‘The friendly cow, all red and white,

I love with all my heart;

She gives me cream with all her might,

To eat with apple-tart.’

MRS BEETON’S GERMAN APPLE TART

SERVES 4-6

This recipe is based on one of Mrs Beeton’s. She calls it a German recipe.

225g (8oz) short crust pastry (see recipe on p )

For the filling:

4 eating apples such as Cox’s Orange or Ribston Pippin, peeled, cored and sliced

2 tbsp brown sugar or to taste

rind of ½ lemon, grated

50ml (2floz) single cream

1 large egg, beaten

30g (1oz) butter, melted

30-60g (1-2oz) flaked almonds

Line a 24cm/10” fluted flan dish with the pastry. Place the sliced apples into a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Add lemon peel and cream. Toss. Whisk the egg and stir in the melted butter. Add this to the bowl and mix well. Distribute the mixture on the pastry and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F/ gas mark 6 for about 45 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or cold.

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	Apple Pies Perhaps the most famous apple dish, there is hardly anything more English than apple pie. For hundreds of years it has been a standby of English and particularly Yorkshire cooking - and a highly popular one. As the English humorous poet, William King, put it: ‘Of all the several kings of sumptuous fare, There is none that can with apple pie compare.’ The apple pie dates back to the Middle Ages. There are hundreds of versions, some pies encased in pastry, some without bottom but with an upper crust and some open tarts. Nearly all use short crust pastry as already suggested in the sixteenth century cook book, ‘A Proper Newe Book of Cookery’. Margaret Dods summed up the essentials of apple pie making in her ‘Cook and Housewife’s Manual’ of 1829: ‘A variety of apples are used for baking, though russettings, Ribstone pippins, golden pippins, and such as are little acid, are esteemed the best. Apple-pie is generally seasoned with pounded cinnamon and cloves, lemon-grate, quince marmalade, candied citron or orange-peel.’ The choice of apples, culinary or dessert, depends on whether a purée or whole apple slices or rings, are required. The natural accompaniment for apple pie is cream. As Robert Louis Stevenson put it: ‘The friendly cow, all red and white, I love with all my heart; She gives me cream with all her might, To eat with apple-tart.’ MRS BEETON’S GERMAN APPLE TART SERVES 4-6 This recipe is based on one of Mrs Beeton’s. She calls it a German recipe. 225g (8oz) short crust pastry (see recipe on p ) For the filling: 4 eating apples such as Cox’s Orange or Ribston Pippin, peeled, cored and sliced 2 tbsp brown sugar or to taste rind of ½ lemon, grated 50ml (2floz) single cream 1 large egg, beaten 30g (1oz) butter, melted 30-60g (1-2oz) flaked almonds Line a 24cm/10” fluted flan dish with the pastry. Place the sliced apples into a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Add lemon peel and cream. Toss. Whisk the egg and stir in the melted butter. Add this to the bowl and mix well. Distribute the mixture on the pastry and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F/ gas mark 6 for about 45 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or cold.
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