Apple pie

An apple pie is a pie in which the principal filling is apples. It is often served with whipped cream, ice cream ("apple pie à la mode"), custard or cheddar cheese. It is generally double-crusted, with pastry both above and below the filling; the upper crust may be solid or latticed (woven of crosswise strips). The bottom crust may be baked separately ("blind") to prevent it from getting soggy. Tarte Tatin is baked with the crust on top, but served with it on the bottom.

Originating in the 14th century in England, apple pie recipes are now a standard part of cuisines in many countries where apples grow. Apple pie is a significant dessert in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, and the US.

Apple pie can be made with many different sorts of apples. The more popular cooking apples include Braeburn, Gala, Cortland, Bramley, Empire, Northern Spy, Granny Smith, and McIntosh. The fruit for the pie can be fresh, canned, or reconstituted from dried apples. Dried or preserved apples were originally substituted only at times when fresh fruit was unavailable. The basic ingredients of the filling are sugar, butter, a thickener like cornstarch and an acidic ingredient like lemon juice. Spices are added most commonly cinnamon, nutmeg. and lemon juice which is used to prevent oxidation of the apples when macerating the filling. Many older recipes call for honey in place of the then-expensive sugar.

Apple pie is often served à la mode, that is, topped with ice cream.

In another serving style, a piece of sharp cheddar cheese is placed on top of or alongside a slice of the finished pie. Apple pie with cheddar is popular in the American Midwest and New England, particularly in Vermont, where it is considered the state dish. In the north of England, Cheddar or Wensleydale cheese is often used.

A commercially prepared apple pie is 52% water, 34% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and 11% fat (table). A 100-gram serving supplies 992 kilojoules (237 kilocalories) of food energy and 13% of the US recommended Daily Value of sodium, with no other micronutrients in significant content (table).

The 14th century recipe collection the Forme of Cury gives a recipe including good apples, good spices, figs, raisins and pears in a cofyn, a casing of pastry. Saffron colours the filling.

Lattice pastry styles were found from the 17th century alongside the more traditional dome shaped pie crust. Modern English versions incorporate thick layers of sweetened slices of, usually, Bramley apple; layered into a dome shape to allow for downward shrinkage, and thus avoid a saggy middle; then topped with butter or lard shortcrust pastry; and baked until the apple filling is cooked.^{[citation needed]}