An apple pie is a baked dessert dish popular in America. The dish consists of stewed or uncooked apples that are flavored with sugar and spices and which are baked into a pastry shell. There are several variations of the apple pie all over the world and in different cultures the actual taste will also vary. Most versions have pastry shell covers on top of the pie, but there are versions where one can find lattice work designs, perforated lids, and open pies that are topped with meringue and dusted with sugar. Cooking methods are usually the same but the pastry recipe might be different in different cultures.

History of Apple Pies

The very first mention of pies can be seen on the walls of Egyptian tombs where the pharaoh’s expert bakers were known to enclose several kinds of meats, and even jellies into baked bread shells. Pictorial representations are often seen on the walls of the tombs in Egypt. But the same dish is also seen in Greek and roman cultures where meats, and even fish and oysters were included into the dish as fillings and covered with pastry. The same practice was carried forward to Old England where food was enclosed in pastry shells to preserve it for a longer period of time. Initially, these pastry shells were called coffins and were not meant to be eaten. These coffins acted as containers which held the food in till the time that it could be prepared or eaten. The shells were so hard that they had to be broken before the food could be extracted from it. During the same period of time sugar was not available and honey was preferred as the sweetening agent. Over time, though sugar was gradually made available, and cooks learnt to prepare softer pastry dough and this began to be used in dishes to add taste and flavor to the recipe.

One authentic apple pie recipe from 1381 suggests addition of sugar to the apples to create the dish. Along with sugar, other ingredients are added like spices, honey, fruits like pears, and peaches, and saffron which increased the taste and sweetness. American colonies had to wait for the pips to grow into trees before they could use the fruit to make pies. It was more common to find meat and game pies rather than any kind of fruit pies in the early American frontier days. For British settlers who craved the dish, a mock apple pie recipe made from crackers was invented during the nineteenth century to make up for the lack of apples. In early American years, it was more common to find apples used to make apple cider and related products.  In the 18the century, apple pies and apple pie recipe versions started appearing and these were gradually adapted into day to day American life.  Over time, different versions of the apple pie recipe appeared in other cultures too.

Ingredients and Popular Methods of Making Apple Pie

Almost all cultures that can grow apples locally have a version of apple pie in their history. America and England made the very first versions of the dish but other cultures too have their own apple pie recipe versions which are really popular. Americans use Granny Smith, Bramley or cooking apples that are stewed with sugar and other spices or used uncooked with spices and sugar. This cooked or uncooked filling is then placed in a pastry shell and covered with another sheet of pastry for baking. But other cultures can have slightly different variations.  For example, Danish settlers bought their own version to America when they came over. In Denmark, a special Dutch apple pie is made with cinnamon and lemon juice and the top crust is made with a lattice of pastry and dotted with spices. The actual filling also includes apples, lemon, honey, dried fruits like sultanas and raisins. There are a few regional apple pie recipe versions that also have icing sugar or a topping on top of it. The very first mention of this apple pie recipe is seen in Danish literature in 1926 and it mentions the use of Goudreinet or Elstar apples for the apple pie recipe. The same variant is also created in the Netherlands and served with an open lattice work crust. In Sweden, apple pie is made slightly different. There is no pastry in the shell and apples are placed in a baking dish with local spices and sugar. Liquid dough is then poured on top of the prepared apples and it is baked in a hot oven creating a hot pie or cake where the apples are held in a suspension. Other variations of the apple pie recipe include French tarte tatin where the apple is caramelized in the sugar and butter and then topped with the pastry crust, Austrian Apfelstrudel where the dish is made in almost the same way, apple cobbler and apple cake.

Serving and Eating Apple Pie

Apple pie can be served hot or cold as a dessert dish. Apple pie a la mode is topped with vanilla ice cream and served either hot or cold according to personal preferences. A few variations have the apple pie served with whipped cream, as an accompaniment to pudding, and with double cream or custard poured on top

Nutritional Value of Apple Pie

One hundred gram serving size of apple pie usually contains about 265 calories.