Sweet Americana Sweethearts: desserts

Showing posts with label desserts. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

The Surprisingly Un-American History of Apple Pie - by Jo-Ann Roberts

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Goodness, 2025 is flying by at warped speed! Today is Thanksgiving. Once you've enjoyed the turkey and fixings, and are anticipating dessert, here's a short history of that perennial favorite...apple pie!

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Everyone knows the phrase "as American as apple pie." It's a warm, golden, buttery badge of patriotism that's served up at July 4th picnics, Thanksgiving tables, and small-town diners across the country.

But did you know the star-spangled sweet isn't really American at all? In fact, if this pie had a passport, it would have stamps from England, France, the Netherlands, and a few centuries of travel under its crust.

The French had their Tarte Tatin, the Dutch had their streusel-topped pastries, and the Swedes had apple desserts that could rival anything cooling on an American windowsill.

Tarte Tatin

Swedish Apple Pie

The Apples

The crisp, juicy varieties that many hands across the country slice for pie aren't even native to North America. Early settlers brought seeds from Europe, and it took years of careful grafting and cultivating before America could even produce an apple fit for dessert. The only apples that grew here before colonists arrived were crabapples--tart little guys that definitely weren't meant for a lattice-topped legacy.

Crabapple Tree

The Spices

And what about those warm, cozy spices associated with homemade apple pie? Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove--all imported from Asia via European spice trade routes. So, even the flavor apple pie had to take a long journey to get here.

The Crust (in my opinion, the best part of the pie!)

The idea of encasing fruit in flaky pastry was happening centuries before Betsy Ross ever got to stitching the Stars and Stripes. The concept of wrapping fruit in dough dates back to medieval Europe. The first recorded apple pie receipt (recipe) in England around 1390. It included apples, figs, raisins, pears, and--oddly enough--no sugar! In the 14th century, sugar was a pricey commodity, so dried fruits pulled double duty as sweeteners.

Despite its international roots, apple pie slowly earned its place in American kitchens. By the end of the 18th century, the first American-published cookbook, American Cookery by Ameilia Simmons, included two apple pie recipes.

Cultural Significance

Apple pie's association with American culture came into its own in the early 20th century. It became a symbol of patriotism, especially during World War II, when soldiers would say they were fighting for "mom and apple pie." The phrase "as American as apple pie" began to appear in print around this time, reinforcing its status as a national symbol.

Today, apple pie is celebrated as a classic American dessert, often served at

holidays, family gatherings and, at least in our home, my husband's birthday request. Its significance extends beyond just being a dessert. It reflects the themes of home, comfort, and its deep-rooted connection to American identity despite its non-American origins.

Apple pie's journey from European kitchens and orchards to American tables illustrates the blending of cultures and culinary traditions make it a beloved symbol of American heritage.

"Wishing you a Thanksgiving filled with love, laughter, and

the warmth of cherished moments."

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CHRISTMAS BRIDES OF HARMONY

This anthology contains three standalone, yet inter-connected, books based in Harmony, Kansas. It’s nearing Christmas and the Circle of Friends Quilting group is planning the Annual Christmas Quilt Giveaway. Here, the quilts are stitched with love and where the quilter weaves dreams into reality, one thread at a time.

Noelle

A widow reluctant to love again…

A deputy determined to win her heart…

With Christmas looming, will the growing attraction between Noelle and the deputy reveal the gift of a second chance? Or could a stranger from the deputy's past threaten the man who captured her heart?

Hope

He was the most stubborn and prideful man she’d ever met.

She was a busybody who stuck her nose in his business at every turn!

As Christmas approaches, will they look beyond each other’s faults and see a future blossom from a special, once-in-a-lifetime friendship?

Ivy

He was the town bully.

She was his target.

Had anything changed?

Was Ivy Sutton willing and able to forgive the boy who made her childhood unbearable?

Can Grady Walsh make up for the reckless actions of his youth?

Or will another steal her away before they have a chance to discover a kind of love that might heal the pain from the past?

Thursday, July 22, 2021

What's For Dessert? - Old West Cuisine in the 1800s by Jo-Ann Roberts

In my new release, Grace-Brides of New Hope, Grace Donegan is the town baker who creates delectable dried cherry tarts, pies, cakes. and cookies for the cafe and the Prairie Queen Hotel in New Hope, Kansas.

While doing research, I read dozens of articles about pioneer women who had to decide what few precious things to carry across the plains. One choice they all had in common was their collection of "receipts", as recipes were then called. For them, these were reminders of a security left behind and a hope for the abundance of the future. In the interim, they simply did what they had to do to keep their families alive.

For the most part, meals were informal and the food hearty. Nothing was wasted. Dried bread was made into bread pudding; a bone was turned into soup and extra milk was made into pudding or cheese.

Early trappers, explorers, miners, and homesteaders all had to be creative when it came to cooking on the frontier. Substitutions of all kinds were made so that the food would not only taste good but that it would taste familiar. It was certainly worth the effort since we're still using some of these recipes even today.

Here are a few examples of dishes these resourceful, hardy people created with limited or unusual ingredients.

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough biscuits were a-little-bit-of-heaven-on-earth delicacy whether on the trail, on a homestead, or in a prairie town cafe. Once a cook got a good sourdough starter he or she cherished it like a prized possession.

The starter was made by cutting up 2 medium-sized potatoes into cubes and boiling them in water until tender. The cook would remove the potatoes and measure out two cups of the liquid. (The potatoes would be used for the evening meal). The cook would then mix the potato water, flour, and sugar into a smooth paste and set the mixture in a warm place until it doubled in size.

Vinegar Pie

This custard-like pie would have been made when there was no fresh fruit or dairy to be had. Settlers had to make do with ingredients that didn't spoil.

The acidity in the vinegar actually gives the pie a flavor that is reminiscent of lemon. This dessert is one variety of pie Grace Donegan makes to sell at the cafe for Thanksgiving. It doesn't taste like vinegar at all. It's sweet and tasty and brings to mind citrus more than vinegar. Plus, like a chess pie, it gets a little bit of a crust on top when baked.

Sheep Sorrel Pie

Since citrus fruit was hard to come by on the prairie and lemon pie was an extremely popular dessert, sheep sorrel leaves had a lemony, tang/tart flavor making it a perfect substitution. The pioneers used the herb to flavor their pies and is supposedly very close in taste to lemon pie. But homesteaders state that it does take a fair bit of sheep sorrel to get the flavor.

Johnnycakes

Like corn pancakes, Johnnycakes or hoecakes were a staple for anyone who needed to fill some bellies but had no wheat flour. Corn, being a new world food, made its way in all kinds of dishes. Topped with maple syrup or molasses, this makes a fine meal for breakfast, dinner, or supper.

Cobblers

Missing the traditional puddings from England but lacking the ingredients to make them, settlers created cobblers. A simple dish that combined fruit and bread or biscuit dough, cobblers have since become an American staple. This dessert would have been cooked over a fire in a cast-iron Dutch oven and lard would have been used in place of butter.

Juneberry Pie (a.k.a. "Saskatoon berry")

Native to North America, particularly the upper Midwest, North and South Dakota, and the northern prairie region of Canada, juneberries had a flavor reminiscent of dark cherries or raisins, and a milder taste than blueberries. The ripe juneberry fruit is dark purple, with several tiny soft seeds, and very closely resembles a highbush blueberry.

Cookies

When the Europeans arrived in the United States, they brought their cookie recipes with them. Soon, they adapted the old recipes to fit their new country. American butter cookies are a close relative to the English tea cake and the Scottish shortbread.

In the Southern colonies, every housewife knew how to bake tea cakes that had no extra flavoring except butter and sometimes a couple of drops of rose water.

The first American cookies that showed up in a cookbook had creative names like Jumbles, Plunkets, and Cry Babies which gave no clue as to what was inside that cookie. As the expansion of the country grew, new ingredients started showing up in cookie recipes. The arrival of the railroad meant fruits and nuts like coconuts and oranges became available to homesteaders. Even cereal became a popular ingredient in cookie recipes after the Kellogg brothers invented cornflakes in the late 1800s.

In the Brides of New Hope series, cookies are a favorite treat for Eli MacKenzie, Grayson Barrett, and Tripp Walker.

As a native New Englander, Eli enjoyed Joe Froggers, a molasses cookie, while Grayson was partial to sugar biscuits, a treat his English-born mother often baked, and Tripp was fond of lebkuchen, a spice cookie reminding him of his German roots back home in New Braunfels, Texas.

Joe Froggers

Sugar Biscuits

Lebkuchen

From the treats we still make to this day to the obscure recipes that have fallen by the wayside, the ingenuity of the pioneers to make tasty food is nothing less than astounding. With so many foods unavailable, it is no wonder that a good cook was so often longer for on the trail or in a small prairie town.