Baked Apple Pudding

History

This dish appears as 'A baked apple pudding' in Mary Randolph's The Virginia House-Wife; or, Methodical Cook, first published in 1824. As printed: 'Take well flavoured apples, bake, but do not burn them, rub them through a sieve, take one pound of the apples so prepared, mix with it, while hot, half a pound of butter, and half a pound of powdered sugar; the rinds of two lemons grated—and when cold, add six eggs well beaten; put a paste in the bottom of a dish, and pour in the apples—half an hour will bake it; sift a little sugar on the apples when baked'. It is an apple pulp enriched with butter, sugar, grated lemon rind and eggs, baked in a pastry-lined dish. Randolph specifies 'well flavoured apples' and adds no spices, so the lemon rind is the recipe's only aromatic beyond the fruit itself. Randolph's book is generally regarded as the first regional American cookbook. Beyond its printing in this 1824 volume, the record does not document a specific earlier origin, place of invention, or line of descent for this particular pudding.

Ingredients

• apples
• 1 pound prepared apples
• 0.5 pound butter
• 0.5 pound powdered sugar
• 2 lemons
• 6 eggs
• paste
• sugar

Instructions

1. Bake well flavoured apples until cooked but not burned. Rub the baked apples through a sieve to make a smooth pulp. Measure out one pound of the prepared apples and mix it while hot with half a pound of butter and half a pound of powdered sugar. Add the grated rinds of two lemons to the mixture. Let cool completely, then fold in six well-beaten eggs.
2. Line the bottom of a baking dish with paste, then pour in the apple mixture. Bake for half an hour. When baked, sift a little sugar over the top.