Sohla Bakes an Apple Pie Recipe from 1796 America (& Medieval England!) | Ancient Recipes With Sohla

It's a culinary reenactment of the American Revolution as Sohla makes two historic versions of apple pie, pitting the US vs. the UK. First up, Sohla recreates the oldest known recipe for apple pie from 1390 England, then bakes up a 1796 recipe for apple pie from the first ever American cookbook.

RECIPES:

1796 American Apple Pie (from American Cookery):

For the pie crust:
1-2 egg whites
8 ounces all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
6 ounces cold, salted, European-style butter

For the filling:
5 to 6 pounds of small, mixed, market apples
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon rose water
granulated sugar to taste

Steps:
1. For the pie crust: Whisk the egg white until just frothy. (This is just to break it up so it’s easier to add to the dough.)

2. Add the flour to a medium bowl. Cut the butter into thin slices and add to flour. Using your hands, rub the flour into the dough until you have peas sized pieces of butter running throughout the flour.

3. Drizzle in the egg white a little bit at a time, stirring with a spoon until the mixture mostly comes together. Gently knead to bring together into a ball, cover with a towel, and set aside in a cool place to rest for 30 minutes.

4. Roll the dough out to ⅛-inch thick, dusting the surface with flour as needed. Use the dough to line a pie pan, trimming any excess dough so 1-inch of the dough hangs off the rim of the pan. Crimp the dough, cover with a towel, and set aside in a cool place to rest.

5. For the filling: Cut the apples into quarters, keeping the seeds and skins intact. Add to a medium pot and add enough water to come ½-inch up the side of the pot. Cover, bring to a simmer, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are completely tender. Cool slightly, then mash the apples through a coarse mesh strainer or colander. Add lemon zest, rose water, and sugar to taste. Set the filling aside to cool.

6. To bake: Scrape the filling into the prepared crust and bake at 375 until the crust is golden brown.

1390 English Apple Pie (from The Forme of Cury):

For the crust:
300 grams all-purpose flour
60 grams bread flour
150 grams lard, melted
150 mL boiling water
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:
4 pounds of small, mixed, market apples
3 medium pears
½ cup roughly chopped dried figs
½ cup raisins
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Steps:
1. Make the crust: Mix all-purpose flour, bread flour, melted lard, boiling water, and salt. Stir to combine, then knead on the counter until smooth.
2. Cut off one-third of the dough for the top and set aside. Shape the remaining warm dough into a straight-sided pie shell, keeping thickness even and the base thin. Roll the reserved dough into a disk slightly wider than the top. Chill both at least 30 minutes until firm.
3. Make the filling: Roughly chop peeled, cored apples and pears in a food processor. Add figs, raisins, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; pulse to a coarse purée.
4. Fill the chilled pie shell, add the top crust, and crimp. Poke a steam hole in the center.
5. Bake at 400°F until deeply browned.

#HISTORY #AncientRecipes

CREDITS

Host
Sohla El-Waylly

Created By
Brian Huffman

Executive Producers
Sarah Walker
Brian Huffman
Jon Erwin

Executive Producer
Sohla El-Waylly

Co-Producer
John Schlirf

Writer
Jon Erwin

Historian - Scripts
Ken Albala

Post-Production Supervisors
Jon Erwin
John Schlirf

Editor
Craig Brasen

Colorist
John Schlirf

Mixer
Tim Wagner

Manager, Rights & Clearances
Chris Kim

Executive Creative Director, A+E Networks
Tim Nolan

VP, Marketing Production, A+E Networks
Kate Leonard

VP, Brand Creative, History
Matt Neary

Music Courtesy of
Extreme Music
A+E Signature Tracks

Additional Footage & Photos Courtesy of
Getty Images
Alamy
Pond5
Wikimedia

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Chapters:
00:00 Starting the American Pie Crust
09:00 Hot Water & Lard Dough (English Crust Begins)
10:29 Medieval “Coffin” Pie Shells
14:53 Making the English Pie Filling
16:40 American Pie Filling Begins
20:22 Filling the American Pie
21:00 Filling the English Pie
23:05 Both Pies Ready to Bake

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