<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Cookbook: Apple pie Media: Apple pie </Td> </Tr> <P> An apple pie is a pie or a tart, in which the principal filling ingredient is apple . It is, on occasion, served with whipped cream or ice cream on top, (which is known as apple pie a la mode), or with cheddar cheese . The pastry is generally used top - and - bottom, making it a double - crust pie; the upper crust may be a circular or a pastry lattice woven of crosswise strips . Depending on the baker's preference, the bottom of the double - crust may be baked first (before baking the whole pie) to prevent the bottom from getting soggy . Exceptions are deep - dish apple pie, with a top crust only, and open - face Tarte Tatin . Apple pie is an unofficial symbol of the United States and one of its signature comfort foods . </P> <P> Apple pie can be made with all sorts of different apples . The more popular cooking apples include, Braeburn, Gala, Cortland, Bramley, Empire, Northern Spy, Granny Smith, and McIntosh The fruit for the pie can be fresh, canned, or reconstituted from dried apples . These different types of apples (canned, dries, fresh) affects the final texture and the length of cooking time required will vary, therefore people disagree on if it affects the flavour or not . Dried or preserved apples were originally substituted only at times when fresh fruit was unavailable . Along with the apples people commonly use, cinnamon, salt, butter, and most importantly sugar . Though most of the old recipes don't include sugar due to the price or having a better sweetener option, most people definitely use it today . Apple pie is often served in the style of "à la Mode" (topped with ice cream). Alternatively, a piece of sharp cheddar cheese is, at times, placed on top of or alongside a slice of the finished pie . Apple pie with cheddar is popular in the American Midwest and New England, particularly in Vermont, where it is considered the state dish . </P> <P> Recipes for Dutch apple pie go back to the Middle Ages . An early Dutch cookbook from 1514, Een notabel boecxken van cokeryen ("A notable little cookery book"), documents a recipe for Appeltaerten (compare modern Dutch Appeltaarten "apple pies"). This early recipe was a simple one, requiring only a standard pie crust, slices of especially soft apples with their skin and seeds removed, and den selven deeghe daer die taerte af ghemaect es (roughly meaning "the same dough that the pie (crust) is made of") to fill in the top . It was then baked in a typical Dutch oven . Once baked, the top crust (except at the edges) would be cut out from the middle, after which the apple slices were potentially put through a sieve before the pie was stirred with a wooden spoon . At this point the book recommends adding several spices to the pie, namely: cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, mace and powdered sugar . Finally, after mixing the ingredients into the pie with cream, it is once again put into the oven to dry . </P>

Where does cheese on apple pie come from
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