Medieval Apple Pie

Hot water crust pie filled with mashed apples and pears with raisins, figs, and spices

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City/Region: England

Time Period: c. 1390

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This is the first recorded recipe for apple pie, written in England around 1390 in The Forme of Cury. As many historical recipes are, this one is bare bones and leaves a lot of room for interpretation. The “good spices” in the recipe could mean basically any combination of spices you like. I think this is probably referring to a popular medieval spice mixture called poudre douce, whose exact contents varied from cook to cook. Popular spices included cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, black pepper, long pepper, cardamom, ginger, galangal, and cloves, so feel free to experiment and make up your own.

Whichever spices you use will affect how familiar or exotic the pie tastes, and I really enjoyed the version I made. It’s not too sweet with most of the sweetness coming from the fruit, and I found the spices to be really strong but really pleasant. Unlike modern apple pies, the filling is more of a compote texture, but it holds together nicely. It’s a perfect recipe to try for the fall.

“For to make Tartys in Applis.
Tak gode Applys and gode Spycis and Figys and reysons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed coloured with Safron well and do yt in a cofyn and yt forth to bake wel.”

— The Forme of Cury c. 1390

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Ingredients:

Filling

• 8 to 10 threads of saffron
• A few tablespoons water
• 3 lbs (1.3 kg ) apples, a mix of sweet and tart
• 1 lb (1/2 kg) pears
• 1/2 cup (80 g) raisins
• 1/2 cup (60 g) chopped dried figs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon*
• 1 teaspoon ginger*
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg*
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom*
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves*

Crust

• 1 cup (235 ml) water
• 1 cup (225 g) suet or lard
• 4 cups (500 g) flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg for an egg wash, optional

*The spices you use are up to you. Feel free to change the quantities or swap out or add ones you like. Galangal, black or long pepper, and mace were also popular.

Instructions:

1. For the filling: Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. Pour a few tablespoons of water over the saffron threads and let them soak while you prepare the fruit.
3. Core and roughly chop the apples and pears. There’s no need to peel them, but you can if you like.
4. Mash the apples and pears in a mortar and pestle (a large bowl and handle-less rolling pin also works well) or throw them in a food processor. Whichever way you choose, you want them to form a mush or paste.
5. Place the apple and pear mush into a bowl. Strain the saffron out of the water and mix the saffron water, raisins, and chopped figs into the fruit mush.
6. Mix together the sugar and spices, then mix this into the fruit.
7. For the crust: Bring the water to a gentle boil. Stir in the suet or lard and the salt and let the fat melt.
8. Place the flour in a large bowl. Once the fat has melted and the mixture is simmering, pour it into the flour and stir it together. Once it’s cool enough to handle with your hands, turn it out and knead it for a minute or two until it becomes nice and smooth.
9. You want to work with the dough while it’s still warm because it will become more difficult as it cools. Divide the dough into one larger piece that’s about 3/4 of the dough and a smaller piece that’s about 1/4 of the dough.
10. To assemble: Flatten the larger piece out into a large disc, then press that into the bottom and sides of an 9 inch (23 cm) cake pan or springform pan. This dough is very forgiving and you can mash it up the sides and patch any cracks that form, the only trick is to work with it while it’s warm.
11. Fill the pie with the filling, packing it down.
12. Roll the smaller piece of dough out into a 9 inch (23 cm) circle, then lay it on top of the pie and crimp the edges to seal. Cut a hole in the center of the top crust or pierce it a few times so that the steam can get out.
13. Beat the egg and brush it over the top of the pie if you’d like, but you can bake it as-is.
14. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until you can see the filling bubbling through the hole or cuts in the top crust.
15. If you used a springform pan, you can remove the outer ring when the pie is almost done, brush it all over with more of the beaten egg, then return it to the oven for 5 more minutes to give it a nice browned color.
16. When the pie is done, let it cool completely before slicing and serving it forth.

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