As American as....
History of Mock Apple Pie
Mock apple pie makes its first appearance around the middle of the 19th century. As they journeyed west, North American settlers yearned for the taste that reminded them of home: apple pie. Apples were hard to come by out in the wilderness, so those amazing pioneer women came up with a dessert that is surprisingly apple-y, considering that it contains neither apples nor apple juice. The recipe first appeared in Mrs. B. C. Whiting's book How We Cook In Los Angeles (1894) as "California Pioneer Apple Pie, 1852."While the original recipe used soda crackers, Ritz saw a fabulous marketing opportunity during the Great Depression in the early 1930's. Apples were prohibitively expensive at that time, so Ritz adapted the recipe to use its own brand of butter cracker and put the recipe on the back of the cracker box. Mock apple pie became a favorite throughout the 30's and 40's.
The Recipe for Mock Apple Pie
36 round butter or soda crackers, broken in large pieces (about 1-3/4 cups crumbs)
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 cups water
2 tablesspoons lemon juice
zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line glass pie plate with 1/2 of pastry. Place crumbled crackers in pie plate on top of crust. Mix sugar and cream of tartar in saucepan. Gradually stir in water until completely combined. Bring to boil. Reduce to low and simmer for 15 minutes, without stirring. Add lemon juice and zest. Allow mixture to cool. Pour syrup over crackers. Dot with butter. Sprinkle with spices. Put top crust on, and seal edges. Cut vents into top crust. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool on wire rack.
The Secret Ingredient
What gives this pie its apple taste? I think it is the tartness of the cream of tartar. I tasted the syrup made of water, sugar and cream of tartar. It contained a definite apple taste.Turns out that apples do indeed contain tartaric acid (incredibly closely related) and malic acid, both of which give apples their distinctive fresh, slightly tart taste.
Photo courtesy of Flickr
Books on Apple Pie
Apple Pie Perfect: 100 Delicious and Decidedly Different Recipes for America's Favorite Pie
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $14.96 (as of 07/06/2009) 
Mom 'N' Pop's Apple Pie 1950s Cookbook: Over 300 Great Recipes from the Golden Age of American Home Cooking
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 07/06/2009)
Sunday Is Family Dinners: From Roast Chicken and Mashed Potatoes to Apple Pie and More (Everyday Cookbooks)
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
Food Men Love: All-Time Favorite Recipes from Caesar Salad and Grilled Rib-Eye to Cinnamon Buns and Apple Pie
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $11.21 (as of 07/06/2009)
What Can You Tell Me About Cream of Tartar?
Grapes are the only major source of tartaric acid. It forms as a sediment and as crystals inside wine barrels as the wine is aged.
Cream of tartar has always been a mystery ingredient in my kitchen. I've never known exactly what it does, until now. Here's a list:
1. I've heard that it can stand in for baking powder, so I guessed it was a leavening agent. It is often mixed with baking soda to make a substitute for baking powder.
2. You can also add it to egg whites to make them whip up fluffier and stay that way longer.
3. You can sprinkle cream of tartar on vegetables to keep them from discoloring.
4. Cream of tartar is often added to desserts and candies to prevent crystallization of sugar, producing a creamier texture.
5. It is widely used in soft drinks, bakery products and gelatins.
6. Cream of tartar is a common ingredient in sodium-free salt substitutes.
Bonus: You can use cream of tartar to clean brass and copper.
UPDATE: Squidoo shepherd adez7 tells me of another use: "If you're coming down with something like the flu or some temp illness, a tsp of COT in a 4 oz glass of water will turn your system alkaline in a short time and many times will put that thing on the run in a hurry."
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Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byMaking the Perfect Pie Crust
Here are two different ways to make a perfect, flaky pie crust.
Let's Make Mock Apple Pie
Pie crust: in its natural habitat and after I artfully crimped the edges
Ingredients for the Magic Syrup that will transform crackers into apples
Oh boy! I can see little bubbles in the sugar syrup
Now it's really boiling!
In go the lemon juice and cinnamon
A whole sleeve of crackers lightly crushed
Adding the Magic Syrup to the crackers
It looks like cracker soup now
My sad attempt at art - looks like Binky Barnes on "Arthur"
Ta-Da!
Where's the ice cream?
How Does it Taste?
"Really brings out the flavor in these cheetos!"
"mmmm"
Several friends asked, why not just use apples? I probably will from now on. You have to remember this was a substitute when apples weren't available. As such, it's pretty tasty. The color is spot on. The texture is the downfall. It's a bit too mushy. What did you expect from wet crackers?
More Unusual Recipes
Not Your Mother's Cookbook: Unusual Recipes for the Adventurous Cook
Amazon Price: $16.95 (as of 07/06/2009)
The Secret Ingredient: Tasty Recipes With An Unusual Twist
List Price: $7.95
How about an Apple Pie Recipe that uses real Apples?
All-American Apple Pie from allrecipes.com with that wonderful crumb topping
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons cold milk
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 Fuji apples, cored and sliced
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
To Make Crust: In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, oil, milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar and salt until evenly blended. Pat mixture into a 9 inch pie pan, spreading the dough evenly over the bottom and up sides. Crimp edges of the dough around the perimeter.
To Make Filling: Mix together 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle over apples and toss to coat. Spread evenly in unbaked pie shell.
To Make Topping: Using a pastry cutter, mix together 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar and butter until evenly distributed and crumbly in texture. Sprinkle over apples.
Put pie in the oven on a cookie sheet to catch the juices that may spill over. Bake 45 minutes.
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Leave me a note. I love messages!
Have you ever tried this or another unusual recipe?
CoolFoto wrote...
I found you at Anything Food Headquarters group ( my spaghetti lens www.squidoo.com/spaghettirecipie is a member, too). Your lens is awesome! 5* and lensroll to my Delicious Desserts lens. :)
Posted December 06, 2008
StevenCousley wrote...
Now I know what a mock apple pie is!. Thank you for the great info and lens
Posted October 28, 2008
oknowgo wrote...
I'm off to the kitchen to crush me some crackers! Now if we could only make it with ZUCCHINI! lol
Posted July 20, 2008
eccles1 wrote...
it looks too good to be healthy!thank goodness for apples! back then they had to be in season or no apple pie! Thank you
Posted July 01, 2008
tdove wrote...
You make that look so easy. Thanks for joining G Rated Lense Factory!
Posted June 23, 2008
giddygabby wrote...
Thank you so much for featuring my Tender, Flaky, Whole Wheat Pie Crust in the module above. It's 3:00 AM and I stopped into Squidoo for five minutes and got totally hooked reading your mock apple pie story. Thanks for a good read.
Posted June 22, 2008
Hi, you have great and very informative lens. 5 stars of course.
Posted May 21, 2008
Wealthforum wrote...
My Mom made this for us as we were all still at home. We thought we had eaten apple pie until she told us there wasn't an apple in it....she had made it from Ritz crackers!
Posted May 21, 2008
jeffwend wrote...
How bizarre, I think I might prefer apple pie but when there are no apples around you gotta do what you gotta do. Blessings
Posted May 20, 2008
by beeobrien
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