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Apple Meringue Pies
Steam six large apples; while hot put in a piece of butter the size of an egg; when cold add one-half cup of fine cracker crumbs, the yolks of three eggs, one and one-half cups cream, not very rich, flavor with essence of lemon and sugar to taste; bake in a large pie plate or two small ones, with a rich under crust. When baked take the whites of the eggs with two tablespoons of powdered or granulated sugar, beat very stiff and spread on the top. Set back in the oven and brown.
This is an apple custard pie rather than a sliced-apple pie: steamed apple pulp thinned with cream, bound with yolks and cracker crumbs, under a soft meringue. The success of it rests on not overbaking the custard.
- Butter the size of an eggAbout 2 ounces, or 4 tablespoons. Beat it into the apples while they are still hot so it melts in rather than sitting in streaks.
- Steam and pulp the applesSix large apples steamed and cored give roughly 3 cups of pulp. Push them through a sieve or food mill for a smooth custard; a blender makes it gluey.
- Cracker crumbsPlain soda crackers, rolled fine. They act as the thickener that keeps the cream and apple from weeping; dry breadcrumbs absorb differently and are not an exact substitute.
- Cream, not very richNineteenth-century "not very rich" cream is close to modern half-and-half. Whole milk also works; heavy cream will make the filling heavy and slightly greasy.
- Essence of lemonThis is lemon extract. Half a teaspoon is plenty for this quantity; a teaspoon is assertive.
- Sugar to tasteSweeten the warm pulp before the eggs go in, when you can taste it safely. Depending on the apples, 1/2 to 3/4 cup is the usual range.
- Oven temperaturesThe recipe gives none, and it fills an unbaked crust and bakes once. If you prefer a crisper base, blind-bake the bottom crust at 425F until set and pale, then fill and bake at 325 to 350F for 35 to 45 minutes, until the center barely trembles. A hotter oven curdles the custard and cracks it.
- Browning the meringueSpread the beaten whites so they seal to the crust edge all round, which stops shrinking, and brown at 350F for 12 to 15 minutes. A brief blast at 425F browns faster but leaves the interior of the meringue slack.
- YieldOne 9-inch pie, six to eight servings, or two 7-inch pies. Cool completely before cutting; warm apple custard slumps.
Apple custard pies of this kind were a standard of American home baking through the second half of the nineteenth century, when steamed or stewed apple pulp was the cheapest fruit filling available for most of the year and cream, eggs and a handful of cracker crumbs turned it into something closer to a pudding pie. The cracker crumb is the telling detail: soda crackers were a pantry staple, and cooks used them as a binder and extender in everything from mock apple pie to fish balls. The meringue lid belongs to a long-established habit of finishing a pudding pie with a beaten-white topping, a way to serve something at a supper table that looked more elaborate than it cost.