Longfellow's Wayside Inn Apple Pie





On the 27th of last month it was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's birthday. In honour of that famous gentleman, who happens to be a literary hero of mine, Blackbird Pie presents for your culinary delight Longfellow's Wayside Inn Apple Pie. I do this with the help of my enthusiastic moodle, Coco Chanel, who it seems, unlike with most food, can be trusted with granny smith apples, and who was happy to provide the cuteness factor to this post about simple apple pie - or is it?

"One Autumn night, in Sudbury town,
Across the meadows bare and brown,
The windows of the wayside inn
Gleamed red with fire-light
through the leaves
Of woodbine, hanging from the eaves
Their crimson curtains rent and thin."

Longfellow's Wayside Inn is located in Sudbury, Massachussetts. Tank and I visited the Inn last summer on our trip to Boston.

The menu at the Inn is a

fascination in itself, with a whole

section called Traditional

Wayside Inn Favorites!

In 1862 the beloved American poet visited the Red Horse Tavern as it was originally called. Since his wife's tragic death, grief-stricken Longfellow had writer's block and lacked inspiration. Here at the Red Horse Tavern he found some. He wrote his renowned Tales of a Wayside Inn, which was published in 1863 and became an immediate success. From then on the Red Horse Tavern became known as Longfellow's Wayside Inn.


This recipe comes from Longfellow's Wayside Inn Cookbook, a cherished keepsake from my visit to the Inn. For this scrumptious, fragrant apple pie you need the following: 

I used granny smiths ~ perfect apple pie
apples after all ~ check out these beauties!
Back in the day they may have used
Newtown Pippins!

6 medium size apples, cored, peeled and  sliced

 

1/3 cup brown sugar

 

pinch of salt

 

2 TB cornstarch

 

2 TB flour

 

1/2 tsp cinnamon

 

pinch of nutmeg

 

1 tsp lemon juice

 

2 TB melted butter

 

9" unbaked pie crust (23cm)

9" Unbaked pie crust

And so to the Longfellow's Wayside Inn method:
 
Place all ingredients in bowl and mix together.
 
Pour fruit mixture into unbaked 9" (23cm) Pie Crust.
 
Egg wash rim and place top crust over filling.
 
Crimp edges and cut steam vents in top crust.
 
Egg wash crust and bake at 350 degrees (180 C) until golden brown.

Ingredients lined up and first apple
peeled.

Now that's not hard, right? And still I managed to savage my thumb with the knife while slicing the apples - the second one I might add, so basically the whole pie was made with an injured thumb. Enter the complication. I'm probably the world's most clumsy piemaker. That being said, my pies do taste very good. My pie adventure in pictures below, but I spared you the blood... shudder, urgh!



Apples peeled and cored.

Apples sliced and lemon
juiced added.

 

Now for the brown sugar...

...flour, cornstarch, cinnamon and pinch of salt.



 

Freshly grated nutmeg is a bit of spice coup de gras
as well as being great fun and very satisfying. If  you
don't grate your own nutmeg you've got to try it!

Pour in the melted butter...

...and give it a satisfying mix ~ the aroma of
apples and spices is heavenly, and you
just know that this pie is going to be good.







Fill the unbaked pie crust with your
apple mixture...

...look at the height of those babies!
I'm getting very excited at the prospect
of eating at this point.

Top crust on, crimp the edges and egg
wash the lot ~ love painting with egg.
And below ~ 
oven ready and just look at that shine!
 

 

While I wait for the pie to go all golden
I take a moment to give the Longfellow's
Wayside Inn Cookbook it's due recognition.
It mentions at the bottom of the recipe that
you can make this pie with pears instead of
apples, substituting brown sugar for white.

~~~

 And below ~ after about 40 minutes this
is the result of my labours and considering
it was mostly done without any input from
my left thumb, I'm pretty thrilled. Look at
this pie, all golden and delish.

 

Apples piled high and spicy. Smells good
tastes even better.
How did those blackbirds get in there!
I cannot recommend this apple pie enough.





Can you see the green apple of my eye?
Guarding apples is no mean feat for a moodle whose
epilepsy medication makes a pup even more hungry than usual.
And I was there when mummy's thumb got the chop. I was there
for her, like I'm always there. I don't think I barked from the front door
at a someone in the street and thereby causing the knife to slip. Do you take me
for an indiscriminate barker with no consideration for those wielding a dangerous
implement? Besides, I'm cute. It's in my job description and I'm good at my job. Yeah!


See you next time on Blackbird Pie!

 

* * * * *  

 

Photos of Longfellow's Wayside Inn from Author! Author! A Journey of Literary Heroes. Follow the link http://terrisedmak.blogspot.com.au/#!/2012/07/author-author-journey-of-literary-heroes.html 
 


And Happy 206th Birthday, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow!