Apple Pie Recipe – Vintage
Posted by Warren
Makes one 9-inch pie, single crust, fruit filling
Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book, New York: Harper, 1850, c1846
A single crust spiced apple pie with an old fashioned from 1846.
Spiced Apple Tart Pie Recipe
Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book, New York: Harper, c1846
Rub stewed or baked apples through a sieve, sweeten them, and add powdered mace and cinnamon enough to flavor them. If the apples are not very tart, squeeze in the juice of a lemon. Some persons like the peel of the lemon grated into it. Line soup dishes with a light crust, double on the rim, and fill them and bake them until the crust is done. Little bars of crust, a quarter of an inch in width, crossed on the top of the tart before it is baked, is ornamental.
A Cookbook with vintage pie recipes
Miss Beecher tells us in her preface that this is an original (emphasis, hers) collection of receipts, all tested by superior housekeepers and “warranted to be the best.”
Catharine Beecher is another of the great and influential ladies of 19th century American culinary history.
She declares that all the recipes are written in “short, simple and perspicuous language” and can be used by any domestic who can read.
Note that many of the recipes use specific, level measurements. Also note that Miss Beecher is generous in thanking the many people who helped her and often attributes a recipe to a specific contributor. Her wide travels and correspondence are reflected in the various recipes and advice from many regions of the United States.
Apple Pie Recipe – Old Fashioned of c1846
—Ingredients—
Filling
3 pounds apples
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1/2 cup white sugar
little mace
little cinnamon
pinch of salt
Directions
1. Prepare the pastry: Roll the pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate with the bottom crust. Roll out the remaining dough for the top crust. Chill the pastry.
2. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
3. Prepare the filling: Pour the fresh-squeezed lemon juice in the bottom of a large bowl. Add your lemon zest to the bowl. Peel, halve and core the apples. Be sure to remove seeds. Slice them evenly and slim into the bowl, coating them with the lemon juice as you go.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugars and spices. Add them to the apples just before you want to bake the pie, mix gently. Adjust sugar to taste as needed.
5. Scrape the filling into the bottom crust. Optional lattice top. Trim and crimp the crust; chill the pie for about 10 minutes in the refrigerator. It is your option to sprinkle it with sugar or brush the top with egg wash.
6. Bake the pie on a baking sheet for 10 minutes at 400° F or until the crust looks dry, blistered, and blonde. Turner the oven down to 375°F, and bake for at least 45 minutes more or until the crust is golden brown, and visible juices are thickened and bubble slowly through the slits in the top crust. Check if the bottom crust has darkened. If not bake a little more and cover the top crust, so it does not burn.
7. Cool the pie completely before cutting at least a few hours or warm in an hour. Store the pie uncovered in a cool place up to three days.
