A timeless, historical Apple Pie recipe that’s refreshing with vanilla or caramel ice cream; perfect to finish any meal.
Finally, the moment we have all been waiting for… a timeless, historical apple pie recipe! Preparing and assembling the pie filling is definitely the easy part of the pie-making process.
I have been desperate to make a recipe from “American Cookery,” the first American cookbook, and I was hoping that this would be my opportunity; however, the closest recipe to an apple pie was an apple tart, and these are her instructions verbatim, “Stew and strain the apples, add cinnamon, rosewater, wine, and sugar to your taste, lay in paste, royal, squeeze thereon orange juice – bake gently.” Pardon me, but what? Perhaps the American ladies in 1796 who bought this cookbook had a deeper understanding of baking basics than I, but this recipe left me confused. With trepidation, I turned to The Joy of Cooking (1st Edition). I never thought I would be so pleased to see semi-exact measurements in a cookbook.
Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 5 tart apples (Granny Smiths are an excellent choice)
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon (rounded)
- 1.5 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon All Purpose Flour (if desired)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Enough Pie Dough for a Double Crust Pie, such as this one
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450F
- Peel and core the apples and cut them into thin slices. I cut each half into thirds and then thinly sliced the halves. Arranged the slices in a pie pan covered with pie dough. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and lemon rind and sprinkle the mixture over the apples. Add the lemon juice and a light dredging of flour if desired. I lightly dusted less than a tablespoon of flour over the top. Dot the apples with butter and cover the pie with an upper crust. Crimp edges, cut in vents, and decorate the top with cutouts if desired. I just lay my cutout on top, but apparently you are supposed to secure them to the upper crust with an egg wash. Dually noted!
- Place pie dish on a baking sheet and place in middle rack of pre-heated oven. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes and then reduce temperature to 325F and continue to bake for 30 minutes or until the filling is bubbling out the vents.
Notes
The pie crust was flaky and perfectly cooked, and the filling was tart and flavorful. It would be refreshing with some vanilla or caramel ice cream, but it was not my favorite apple pie recipe being a certified sweet addict.
Martha says
Where is the recipe for the crust?
Lindsey says
Hi Martha, It is here. It was linked below the instructions. The old recipe plugin that I used, no longer functions with the latest updates, so sadly, my oldest recipes are a bit of a formatting nightmare!
Happy Baking!
DT35 says
I looked up this entry because I couldn't lay hands on my American Heritage Cookbook, and followed the directions because they appeared similar to what I recalled of the ones in the book. However, I think you may have reversed the baking times -- shouldn't it be 10 minutes at 450 degrees, then 30 minutes at the lower temperature? I followed your directions above and barely saved my pie from incinerating at the 22-minute mark.
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