A wedge of apple pie with a slice of cheese

[Apicio]

To Markk and Rooftop1000, Rose Levy Beranbaum has a recipe for a tender-flaky crust with creamcheese which I find easier to handle than the normal pie crust recipes because it takes out a lot of the guesswork involved. This is my default pie crust recipe now because I also like its appearance, texture and taste. I have also heard of the version you mentioned but from Garrison Keillor. I never tried it though because I am afraid that the bits of cheese would turn rubbery once cooked and allowed to cool down.

[culinary bear]

Born and bred Scotsman here, where they'd look at you awfully funny if you suggested a thing.... However, in Lancashire I've seen cheese slipped in under the crust before baking.

Utterly recommended is a longitudinal slice from a Mrs Kirkham's Tasty Lancashire - it's exactly the right diameter to fit snugly inside before the lid goes on.

[srhcb]

Minnesota, (at least the Northern half), never.

I cream or heavy cream.

SB (still can't bring myself to try it)

[ludja]

...

That being said, I prefer my apple pie with vanilla ice cream. 

And don't heat up the pie for me. 

Who wants melted ice cream with their pie?

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Room for all tastes, of course, but just to add that to me there is an art to serving warmed apple pie with ice cream. The pie should not be screaming hot and the (vanilla) ice cream should be very firm.

Some of the ice cream will slowly melt and form a great sauce with the apple juices. But the best part is to have most of the ice cream not melt over the duration of eating the slice so that you always have the contrast of warm crispy crust and filling with cold ice cream in each bite.

[Dukeofyork]

...

That being said, I prefer my apple pie with vanilla ice cream. 

And don't heat up the pie for me. 

Who wants melted ice cream with their pie?

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Room for all tastes, of course, but just to add that to me there is an art to serving warmed apple pie with ice cream. The pie should not be screaming hot and the (vanilla) ice cream should be very firm.

Some of the ice cream will slowly melt and form a great sauce with the apple juices. But the best part is to have most of the ice cream not melt over the duration of eating the slice so that you always have the contrast of warm crispy crust and filling with cold ice cream in each bite.

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I second the warm/cold combination. Like in a creme brulee, 'tis.

As for the cheese, it was a common practice for my father, born British but Canadian raised. My grandmother wasn't shy around the cheese when mother broke out the pie, either, as I recall. For myself, iced cream was always the preferred choice but I may have to explore this new option further ... !

[suzilightning]

born on shelter island, east end of long island; cousins in melrose and malden; great-grandmother from rhode island.

we always had cheddar(preferably rat cheese) with our apple pie. i remember there was an older gentleman who would pull up at our house in late september - he had made a trip to upstate ny for northern spies and my grandfather always bought a peck from him.

johnnybird on the otherhand is from the hudson valley(poughkeepsie) and his grandmother - german- and mother german/danish always served it with ice cream. he had never seen cheddar served with apple pie until he met my mom

there is a woman at work who substitutes some of the fat in her pie crust recipe with grated sharp cheese. i've never tried it.

[tryska]

I really like cold sliced apple with good chedder...its so nice the way the apple starts to beak down the cheese right in your mouth.

t

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i'm with you. whilst i've heard of apple pie with cheese, i don't recall ever having it. love me soem apples and cheese tho.

preferably granny smiths and a good cheddar. or if there is no good cheddar - portwine cheese spread. also good with pears.

[mamacat]

For years I was torn between having a good cheddar cheese or ice cream with my apple pie until one day I baked the cheddar cheese into the crust and had the ice cream on the side. Works for me!

[jayt90]

Let us know if you were raised in this tradition and tell us what kind of cheese and where you’re from.  I learned this in Toronto and its Northern Spy apple pie and Canadian medium aged cheddar here.

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I think this is common throughout Upper Canada, but I don't know about Quebec, or Eastern and Western Canada.

The use of Northern Spy apples, and a lard crust is considered old fashioned now, but it will make a superb pie, without a lot of sugar or thickening. These apples are worth looking for.

As children, my brother and I preferred Ice cream, but as teenagers, we graduated to cheddar, usually medium, but sometimes 'old rat trap'!

[Apicio]

A note for non-Canadians, Upper Canada is what became the province of Ontario, the birth-place of MacIntosh apples and the pomologist after whom Macoun apples was named and also of very good cheddar cheese such as Balderson’s and the seven year old one that they sell in the Saint Lawrence market in Toronto.

Edited September 17, 2005 by Apicio (log)

[ludja]

A note for non-Canadians, Upper Canada is what became the province of Ontario, the birth-place of MacIntosh apples and the pomologist after whom Macoun apples was named and also of very good cheddar cheese such as Balderson’s and the seven year old one that they sell in the Saint Lawrence market in Toronto.

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Thanks for the info. We had a Macoun apple tree in the backyard growing up. Terrific apples for eating out of hand as I recall re: texture and flavor. You can buy them back East but I haven't seen them in SF Bay area stores.

[mizducky]

Where I grew up (suburbs of New York City), I never encountered apple pie with cheese. But somehow we got on the mailing list for the Vermont Country Store catalog, which, among many other homey charms, always suggested using their cheddar cheese to top apple pie. In fact, I just checked the online version of the catalog, and they still mention serving it with apple pie--lookie here.

[jackal10]

At the weekend we discovered that a pizza made with apple and Tallagio cheese is close to heaven: spurdough pizza crust, sliced apple, cheese, then baked in the normal way in a pizza oven.

[hjshorter]

Wenslydale. 

However the apple pie has no bottom crust, otherwise its an apple tart.

"Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze."

Mustard optional

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Wait a sec...mustard? With pie?

[ludja]

...

From "The Mystic Seaport Cookbook: 350 Years of New England Cooking by Lillian Langseth-Christensen (1970):

In England the housewives decorated and garnished their pies as elaborately as a curry in India.  The hot pies stood on the table surrounded by garnishes to suit everyone's taste.  The American settlers in New England simplified the pies, and of the garnishes only the cheese and ice cream remain.  They served a good strong yellow cheese.

Here are some of the 'older' (from England) garnishes she mentions:

heavy cream

fine sugar to dredge over the pie

good Port wine in a dcanter to pour over the pie

Cheddar or Cheshire cheese

toasted hazelnuts

blanched almonds

melted quincy jelly

diced candied orange peel

sweetened whipped cream

plum conserve (damson plum jelly in Mystic)

dried currants

raisins

cinnamon sugar

...

I think this may be one of my all time most favorite eGullet posts ever.

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I thought of Jaymes when I read the following quote recently from John T. Edge's, "Apple Pie, An American Store". (Fun book to read, by the way. He travels across the US musing on and looking for apple pie, finding different styles and customs and meeting some of the people behind the pies. There are recipes sprinkled in among the stories).

This quote is describing apple pie for dessert after a wonderful dinner he and his wife had at Frank Stitt's "New Southern" restaurant, Highland Bar and Grill in Birmingham, Alabama.

But the dessert knocked our small band of revelers in the dirt.  I remember it this way:

Out of the kitchen came a pretty, young woman.  On her uplifted arm she bore a gilt-edged mirror.  Upon that mirror rested a collection of miniature apple pies.  Walnuts and pecans were scattered about.  Wedges of stinky blue cheese smoldered in two of the corners.  Opposite each cheese there stood silver chalices.  One was filled with heavy cream, the other with glossy caramel.  As she moved toward our table, candlelight spangled off the mirror and caromed off our brandy snifters.  When she set the bright tableau down, I thought I might swoon.  Granted, I was a mite intoxicated at that stage in the meal, but the effect was nevertheless stunning.

This sounds great, and blue cheeese is an idea, as well. It would be wonderful for Thanksgiving although I think it mght be nicest when only apple pie is being served.

Also--in others of his travels, he mentioned having a difficult time finding a restaurant (even up in Vermont) that would offere a slice of cheddar alongside the pie although they knew of the custom. I guess this is a tradition that is being mainly kept up in homes rather than restaurant kitchens.

[LindaK]

Good topic for this time of year.

Apple pie with cheddar on the side was a staple growing up in central Massachusetts, but I never liked it. Odd, since I adore apple pie and am a certified cheese-lover.

It wasn't until years later, after apple picking with a friend in Maryland, that I was introduced to the brilliant combo of a raw apple slice topped with a slice of cheddar and a ring or two of pickled hot peppers. Even after my mouth was numb, I couldn't stop eating. Still a favorite snack.

However, the perfect apple-cheese combo is apple and roquefort cheese. Oh my. The sweet-tart-salty-creamy sensation is the best. As a kid, I discovered the joys of apple slices dipped in Marie's Blue Cheese Salad Dressing as my favorite afternoon snack. Now, I know to stick with the real thing. And a traditional French salad--sliced endive, sliced apples, crumbled roquefort, and toasted walnuts--is an elegant way to get this onto the dinner table.

[suzilightning]

However, the perfect apple-cheese combo is apple and roquefort cheese.  Oh my.  The sweet-tart-salty-creamy sensation is the best.  As a kid, I discovered the joys of apple slices dipped in Marie's Blue Cheese Salad Dressing as my favorite afternoon snack.  Now, I know to stick with the real thing.  And a traditional French salad--sliced endive, sliced apples, crumbled roquefort, and toasted walnuts--is an elegant way to get this onto the dinner table.

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sure you aren't pmsing??? i know i would with the blue and apple

[fud]

We were in the okanagan (BC) in the summer and they had "Ambrosia Apples". Crispy, not too juicy and a little tart.

We bought some "Harvest Moon" Cheese from a Winery called Poplar Grove (they also make an amazing tiger blue cheese which is mild for a blue but very rich).

First I ate the blue with the apple and blissed out. Big smiles. Then I ate the harvest moon with the crackers. Solid, the harvest moon reminded me of a brie, mild in flavour but creamy.

Then I took a slice of harvest moon and put it on the apple assuming this wouldn't work since the apple had such a powerful flavour. Wrong! The apple actually brought out an entirely new dimension of that cheese. Flavours I didn't taste in my initial cheese/cracker bite came rocking forward. I was so excited I forced by two friends to do the same. Their eyes popped out of their sockets. It was like discovering sliced bread!

Apples and cheese! I always knew, but I apparently still know nothing!

Amazing.

[jamiemaw]

Let us know if you were raised in this tradition and tell us what kind of cheese and where you’re from.  I learned this in Toronto and its Northern Spy apple pie and Canadian medium aged cheddar here.

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I think this is common throughout Upper Canada, but I don't know about Quebec, or Eastern and Western Canada. The use of Northern Spy apples, and a lard crust is considered old fashioned now, but it will make a superb pie, without a lot of sugar or thickening. These apples are worth looking for.

As children, my brother and I preferred Ice cream, but as teenagers, we graduated to cheddar, usually medium, but sometimes 'old rat trap'!

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My Dad, who's from Montréal, introduced the sharp cheddar-on-top custom over here on the Wet Coast and it must have been pretty groundbreaking in 1946. But then he's always been a pretty trendy guy--one of few who can get away with an ascot while gardening.

Our family remains divided on the subject: My sister hissily insists on her pie à la mode, with vanilla ice cream; my Mum and many brothers prefer her whipped cream with the merest nudge of nutmeg; and my fiancée and I are fond of gorgonzola, or one of the local bleus.

Although I don't forsee an easy resolution, we're urgently seeking counselling.

This is my report.

[Holly Moore]

When I lived in Wisconsins natives told me that it is a state law that apple pie has to be served with Wisconsin cheese. But they also promised me that the winters in central Wisconsin wouldn't be all that bad, so their credibility is less than 100%

[bigcat39]

I'm from Central California, and my parents were from the south, so I never heard of this until I moved to Connecticut.

But I now live in Ohio, married to a lifelong Ohio girl.... and she had never heard of it. I introduced her to the custom this apple season.

My first post, BTW

[goldie]

Welcome bigcat39!

I think it might be partly regional but mainly an age issue. I live in Massachusetts and we were actually discussing this at the bus stop the other day. People remembered their grandparents (most of us are in our thirties and forties so grandparents would be in their eighties or nineties) eating pie this way. Could it have been a depression or turn of the century trend?

Personally I like a not very sweet pie (Cortlands, Maccouns, Granny Smith when I can't get the others) with a nice hunk of crumbly extra sharp cheddar on the side. Warm pie, cool (but not cold) cheese and a big glass of milk- heaven!

[Pontormo]

I...have never seen it offered nor have I ever consumed it.  Of course, it's something you see often in cartoons, TV shows and old films so I was familiar with this alien pairing at an early age.

That being said, I prefer my apple pie with vanilla ice cream. 

And don't heat up the pie for me. 

Who wants melted ice cream with their pie?

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Moi! Just a little bit melty...but kept at a distance from the slightly warm slice.

Otherwise, I am with you all the way! I vouch for hearing about but never witnessing the practice and I have lived up and down the east coast, in the midwest and out near the Rockies.

If I pair (very sharp, aged) cheddar with apples, I prefer the latter crisp, fresh and in wedges with a very good book. An excellent Stilton is nice, too, especially with Gold Rush apples purchased that morning from Eddy the farmer in the parking lot of the church down the block and shared with friends from Maine.

As for cheese in pastry, I have made a pear tart with a Gorgonzola crust (the recipe was in Gourmet years ago) that was wonderful.

P.S. How about cheddar cheese ice cream with warm apple pie?

Edited November 4, 2005 by Pontormo (log)