Famous Last Meals / Modern companion recipe
Small Covered Apple Pie
Thin apple slices bake beneath a plain butter crust in a small straight-sided tin. Apple pie appears in the reported Gardner meal; this pastry, cinnamon, lemon, portion size and baking method are original home-kitchen choices. It is not a copy of the commercially prepared pie in the eyewitness account.
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Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (180 g), for the pastry
- 1 tablespoon extra all-purpose flour (10 g), for rolling; use only what prevents sticking
- 6 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cold unsalted butter (90 g), diced
- ¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (55 g), divided: 15 g pastry and 40 g apples
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt (0.75 g)
- 3 tablespoons cold drinking water (45 ml), plus up to 1 tablespoon (15 ml) only if dry flour remains; a few separate drops of drinking water for sealing the pastry edge (up to 1 teaspoon/5 ml)
- About 3 medium firm apples, washed, then peeled and cored, to give 1 lb/450 g prepared flesh
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (15 ml), seeds removed
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (8 g)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (0.5 g)
Set out
Oven with a middle-lower rack, Solid-base round metal cake tin with usable 7-in/18-cm inside diameter, sides at least 1½ in/4 cm high and capacity at least 1 qt/1 L, Rimmed baking sheet, Mixing bowl, fork and pastry cutter or clean fingertips, Kitchen scale, measuring spoons and jug, Rolling pin and clean work surface, Knife, apple peeler and chopping board, Refrigerator space for the covered pastry, Heatproof rack, oven mitts and foil, Thin-probe thermometer if reheating leftovers
Allergens
Wheat; Milk. Flour contains wheat and butter contains milk. Check actual packages and substitutions for additional allergens and shared-equipment contact.
Make it
- Mix the 180 g flour, 15 g sugar and salt in the bowl. Rub or cut in the cold butter until most pieces are pea-size or smaller. Stir in 45 ml cold water with the fork. Squeeze a little dough: it should hold together without a wet smear. If loose dry flour remains, add from the 15 ml allowance one teaspoon/5 ml at a time. Do not add water merely to make it sticky. Do not taste the uncooked pastry. After rolling, clean loose flour from the work surface and wash hands and tools before handling cooked food.
- Divide the pastry into approximately 200 g for the base and the remainder for the lid. Flatten each into a disk, cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. Use the last part of this chill to cut the apples into thin ⅛-in/3-mm slices and toss them with lemon juice, 40 g sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C with the rimmed sheet on the middle-lower rack.
- Dust the work surface lightly from the 10 g rolling flour. Roll the larger disk into a roughly 10½-in/27-cm circle about ⅛ in/3 mm thick. Lower it into the stated tin without stretching, leaving enough edge to seal. Spread all the apple mixture and its juices inside, keeping the filling below the rim; press lightly to close large gaps.
- Roll the smaller disk into a roughly 8-in/20-cm lid. Moisten the base pastry edge with a few drops of drinking water if necessary, lay on the lid and press the edges together. Trim excessive overhang and make 3 short steam slits in the center. No egg wash or extra topping is needed.
- Set the tin on the hot baking sheet using oven mitts. Bake 20 minutes, then reduce to 350°F/180°C and bake 25–35 minutes more. The crust should be golden, juices should visibly bubble through a slit and a thin knife inserted through a slit should meet tender apples. Cover the edge loosely with foil if it darkens early; continue until the apples soften.
- Lift the tin onto the rack and allow at least 50 minutes for the filling to settle before cutting into 4 portions. Serve from the tin with a broad server. The filling can remain hot after the pastry becomes comfortable to touch.
A useful detail
The 180-minute total allows weighing and mixing, a 30-minute pastry chill, rolling and assembly, up to 55 minutes baking and at least 50 minutes cooling. Some apple preparation overlaps the chill. A deeper tin does not mean extra filling should be added. Different apples can require more baking; tenderness and bubbling control the finish.
Keep it well
Refrigerate remaining pie in covered portions within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C, at 40°F/4°C or below. Use within 3 days. Serve chilled or reheat only the portions needed, loosely covered, until the center reaches 165°F/74°C. Keep an eye on the crust during reheating; a crisp edge does not prove a hot center.
How this recipe relates to the story
Contemporary reporting names apple pie among Gardner’s meal components. Bradshaw’s later firsthand account identifies a commercial pie; this small home-baked butter-crust pie does not reproduce that brand or recipe. No ice cream, steak, lobster, beverage or historical serving size is included.
Another way
- Omit the cinnamon for a plainer apple flavor; no spice is specified by the historical sources.
- Replace up to half the prepared apples with the same weight of another firm apple variety for a different balance of sweet and tart. Keep 450 g prepared fruit in total.