I grew up eating a generous slathering of apple butter on warm biscuits almost every morning before school. It was an autumn breakfast staple. My older brother, who was too modish for such old fashioned fare, preferred neon colored puffed cereals that crackled and popped in his bowl of pink milk, but I loved the sticky warmth of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice combined with the sweetness of the apple harvest. We only ate apple butter in autumn, and it was something I looked forward to every year.
Apple butter has long been considered out of fashion or something only eaten in the days of yore, but it has always been one of my favorite spreads for toast or biscuits. Store bought apple butter can be hard to find. My local supermarket carries only one brand (Musselman’s), but I prefer home made.
When researching recipes popular at the time my house was built (1882), I came across a recipe for Apple Butter Custard Pie and was intrigued enough to try it. Old recipes sometimes need a little tweaking to be useful in a twenty-first century kitchen, so after a couple of experiments, I have developed a recipe that will be a new edition to my autumn desserts.
This recipe was inspired by one found in Buckeye Cookery, a cookbook published in 1876 as a fundraiser for a Congregational church in Marysville, Ohio. The original recipe can be found on The Henry Ford Museum website.
Apple Butter Custard Pie looks and tastes like pumpkin pie and could easily find a spot on the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday tables. It might be a period recipe, but it is definitely one to bring into the present day.
A note to the fat averse: This pie requires the fat from the milk to allow the ingredients to blend properly and achieve the appropriate consistency for the custard. Although you might be tempted to reduce the milk fat, you will not receive the best results.
The original recipe called only for whole milk, not a combination of whole and evaporated milks. The whole milk available in 1876 would have had more fat in it than the pasteurized whole milk we buy at the grocery store today. To bring in the fat but not so much of the liquid, I’ve exchanged evaporated milk for some of the whole milk and received excellent results.
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup apple butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup + 3 oz. whole milk
5 oz evaporated milk
pinch of salt
Your favorite single pie crust
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°. Place unbaked pie crust in pie pan. Fit the crust to the pan. Trim edges, if necessary, and scallop or crimp the edges, as desired.
In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add all other ingredients, and mix until well combined, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl as you go.
Pour batter into prepared pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Reduce heat to 350°. Cover crust with aluminum foil or pie shield.
Return the pie to the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until center is set. The pie is done when the outer edge is solid, but the center still jiggles a bit. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean.
Let the pie cool for two hours before cutting and serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Why not enjoy this heirloom dessert with a playlist of songs popular when this pie recipe was also popular?
To listen, visit the Mædunbroc profile on Spotify and choose the 1882 playlist. You will be able to “like” the playlist and “follow” our profile, so you can come back to it again and again. 1882 is our first playlist. We are working on playlists for each decade of our house’s life, and we’ll add a few more as our house and farm continue to grow. Access the 1882 playlist here.
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