History of the Apple Pie

Apple pies or tarts have shown up, in one form or another, since the Middle Ages.

1381 – 14th century pies were very different from today’s pie, as they didn’t contain sugar and the pastry (coffins) generally were not meant to be eaten. The coffins were meant to be used as a container only. Sugar during the 14th century was available, but was very scarce and extremely expensive.

One of the very earliest apple pie recipes comes from a cookbook originally compiled about 1390 A.D. by the master cooks of King Richard II, presented afterwards to Queen Elizabeth, by Edward Lord Stafford. According to historians, this is one of the first records of the modern apple pie. Here it is…

For To Make Tartys in Applis: Tak gode Applys and gode Spryeis and Figys and reyfons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed co-lourd wyth Safron wel and do yt in a cofyn and do yt forth to bake well.

1620 – When the English colonists arrived in North America they found only crab apples. Crab apple trees are the only native apples to the United States. European settlers arrived and brought with them their English customs, including their Apple Pie recipes

1700s – Apple pudding and Marlborough pudding were very similar to apple pie, as they were also baked in a pastry crust. The only difference seems to be the addition of eggs, as both types were baked in a pastry lined pan covered with pastry (either a solid lid or a lattice-type lid).

1713 – The poem called Apple Pye, by William King (1663-1712), English poet appeared in the pamphlet called The Northern Atlantis (York Spy):

Of all the delicates which Britons try
To please the palate of delight the eye,
Of all the sev’ral kings of sumptuous far,
There is none that can with applepie compare.

1759 – The Swedish parson, Dr. Israel Acrelius, author of the A History of New Sweden; or, The Settlements On The River Delaware (an extensive history of the Swedish congregations of New Sweden), writing home to Sweden in 1759 an account of the settlement of Delaware, said:

“Apple pie is used throughout the whole year, and when fresh Apples are no longer to be had, dried ones are used. It is the evening meal of children. House pie, in country places, is made of Apples neither peeled nor freed from their cores, and its crust is not broken if a wagon wheel goes over it.”

Source: http://whatscookingamerica.net... Plarre Bakehouses have been baking Apple Pies for over 100 years and recently won 1st Place for their Apple Pies at the National Baking Competition held in Melbourne on 27 June 2007. Come in and try Australia’s best Apple Pies!