apple pie recipe

Apple Pie Recipe

/ sandramervillehart

by Sandra Merville Hart

I decided to change my apple pie recipe because I wanted to cook the apples ahead of baking. I used parts of my old familiar recipe and changed others—just in time to share at our family Thanksgiving meal! It was risky but everyone liked it.

Apple Pie

5-6 tart apples such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and cut into large slices (a generous 4 cups of apples)

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon sugar, divided

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Prepared 2 crust pie dough

1 beaten egg

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine 1 cup sugar, flour, and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the sliced apples. Gently toss the apples into the sugary mixture until they are well-coated.

Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. When melted, add the apple mixture. Stir often as the apples cook. As the fruit cooks, it releases juices that thicken in the bottom of the pan. Cook until the apples begin to soften, about 10 – 12 minutes.

Pour the apple mixture into a bowl and allow to cool.

Place the bottom layer of pie dough into your pie plate and prick with a fork several times along the bottom and sides. (I bought prepared pie dough to save time.)

Pour cooled apples onto the prepared pie plate. Cover with the top layer of crust and fold it under the bottom layer. Using your thumbs, press the ends together to seal and to make a fluted edge.

Brush the top layer with the egg and sprinkle on about a teaspoon of sugar. Using a knife, make slits for the air to escape.

Bake 45- 50 minutes or until golden brown.

As I said, I took this to a family Thanksgiving meal and hoped for the best.

I needn’t have worried. The delicious pie was a hit. It was a little sweet, but not overly so. Six apples were the right amount of fruit. The filling was thick and didn’t spill out over the plate when slicing it.

Let me know if you try it.

Enjoy!

Widow Jones’ Apple Pie

/ sandramervillehart / 10 Comments

 

Today’s post is written by fellow author Amber Schamel. This recipe is from her book, Dawn of Liberty. Welcome, Amber!

Sam says: I’ve convinced Mrs. Jones to share with us the recipe for her special apple pie. She prepared this for John Hancock and myself when we fled from the battle of Lexington as told in A Shot at Freedom in the Dawn of Liberty Short Story Collection.

 “What a feast. You have outdone yourself, Madam,” Hancock said with a smile.

“For dessert, I’ve one of my special apple pies in the oven, just for you, John.”

At those words, Hancock’s face split into a huge grin. “Well then, shall we commence?”

 Widow Jones’ Apple Pie

 YIELD: 8 Servings

Ingredients:

2 Pie Crusts

1/2 c. Brown Sugar

3 T. Wheat Flour

1/4 t. Salt

1 1/2 t. Cinnamon Spice

1/2 t. Clove Spice

5 c. Thinly Sliced Apples (Your variety of choice)

6 T. Butter

1 T. Lemon Juice (optional)

Instructions:

Begin by mixing sugar, flour, salt and spices together in a bowl. Next, poke holes in the bottom pie crust with a fork to prevent bubbling. Place apples inside the bottom crust. Sprinkle sugar mix over apples.

Cut the butter into pats and distribute them on top. Sprinkle lemon juice evenly over the pie.

Finish preparation by cutting the second pie crust into strips and weaving it over the top.

Bake at 450 for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Serve warm.

-Amber Schamel

Dawn of Liberty Blurb

Liberty comes with a price. Can a fledgling nation bear the cost?

British forces advance upon a struggling colonial army. The time of decision has come. Declare independence, or give up the fight. The weight of a nation rests on Samuel Adams’ shoulders as he joins the delegates of the Second Continental Congress. Can he raise the cause of Liberty above the fear of the King’s wrath in the hearts of his countrymen?

Three riveting short stories follow Samuel Adams as he struggles through the events surrounding the Declaration of Independence and evokes the Dawn of Liberty.

Amazon

Amber’s Bio:

Amber Schamel writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call “historical fiction at its finest”.  Her title, Dawn of Liberty, was awarded the 2017 CSPA Book of the Year award in Historical Fiction. She lives in Colorado and spends half her time volunteering in the Ozarks. Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at www.AmberSchamel.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!

Connect with Amber on Facebook,  Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads. 

Apple Pie Recipe Without Apples used by Confederate Soldiers

/ sandramervillehart

blog-130

Recipes used to be called ‘receipts.’ Confederate soldiers were often low on supplies and had to make do with ingredients found nearby.

I found an intriguing recipe called “Apple Pie Without Apples” in an 1863 book, Confederate Receipt Book. I had to make this one.

The main ingredient is crackers. Civil War soldiers ate hard tack, which John D. Billings describes in his book, Hard Tack and Coffee, as “a plain flour-and-water biscuit.”

Billings, a Civil War soldier, had two of these crackers while writing his book that published in 1887. (It doesn’t say if the hard tack was baked during the war.) When measured, he found they were 3 1/8 inches by 2 7/8 inches and almost ½ inch thick.

This apple pie recipe uses crackers. The soldiers would have used hard tack because that was available.

blog-127Place crackers in a small bowl. (Not having hard tack on hand, I thought Triscuits might be an acceptable substitute.  I used 20 of these crackers. Regular crackers would also be fine.) Soak these in water until soft. For our modern crackers, this takes about five minutes. I can’t imagine how long soldiers soaked the hard tack.

Empty excess water. Mash the softened crackers.

Add 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, ¼ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and ½ teaspoon nutmeg to the crackers. Mix together.

Spray ramekins with cooking spray. Spoon mixture into ramekins until about 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

My husband tried it first. “It’s strange. It doesn’t taste like apple pie.”

I had to agree. This recipe does not taste like apple pie. I didn’t really care for it.

Soldiers probably didn’t have cinnamon too often in camp but this spice would definitely enhance the flavor. In the next batch I added a teaspoon of cinnamon along with the nutmeg.

Both my husband and I agreed that cinnamon improved the “appleless” pie. Though it was a strange and unfamiliar dessert, I’m happy I tried it. It would make a fun dish at Civil War reenactments.

For the Confederate soldier starving for his mother’s apple pie, eating this dessert probably gave him a nostalgic taste of home.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

A Compilation of Over One Hundred Receipts, Adapted to the Times. Confederate Receipt Book, Applewood Books, 1863.

Billings, John D. Hardtack & Coffee, University of Nebraska Press, 1993.