Titanic’s Apple Meringue Pie and…Desserting Cruising

I’ve never had much of a desire to go on board one of those massive cruise liners stuffed to the brim with thousands of others with floating casinos and dancing girls and 24-hour nightclubs and buffet roast and carveries and over-crowded decks etc.  But for others I realise this kind of a holiday is a dream come true.  And saving up to travel to amazing destinations with the people you love should be a dream come true.  It certainly wasn’t for those poor people on board the Costa Concordia!

Aren’t the images and the stories just shocking.

Apple Meringue Pie


Because the crash happened at night and because so many were scrambling for life boats and there was little order and much chaos, some of the survivors were saying it was like a scene from The Titanic.   When the Titanic went down almost one hundred years ago it did not have the benefit of all the modern equipment and technology that captains can rely on today.  So how something like this can happen in 2012 is going to raise a lot of questions.  Tragic that so many lives have been lost and others are still unaccounted for.

Have you a desire to go cruising?

Apple Meringue Pie

This dessert is from the cookbook, RMS Titanic “Dinner is Served” by Yvonne Hume.  The recipe was served to First Class Passengers the night the ship went down.

Apple Meringue Pie

Pastry Ingredients

  • 200g Self-raising flour
  • 1 tbspn icing sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 100g butter, cubed
  • iced water to mix
  • 2 egg whites

Pre-heat the oven to 165C/325F

Sieve the flour, icing sugar and salt together into a large bowl.

Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add 1 tbspn of iced water, bit by bit, stirring the dough with your fingertips for 30 seconds after each addition of water.  The pastry should leave the sides of the bowl clean.

Wrap the pastry in cling film and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Roll the pastry dough out onto a floured board with a floured rolling pin.  The dough should generously cover the flan tin.  Don’t cut off the pastry overhang at this stage.

Either back blind by placing some greaseproof paper on top of the pastry base and topping with baking beans, or, prick the bottom of the case with a fork.

Put the flan case into the oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes take the flan out of the oven and remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper, if using.

Brush the bottom of the flan case with the egg white and bake for a further 10 minutes.

Remove the flan case from the oven and trim the edges, slowly, with a sharp knife.  Set the flan case to one side and prepare the filling.

Apple Filling Ingredients

  • 440g Bramley apples
  • 40g sugar
  • juice from 1 lemon
  • 1 egg yolk 200ml apple juice
  • 2 tspns cornflour

Apple Filling Method

Peel, core and chop the apples and place into a saucepan with the sugar, lemon and 1 tbspn of water.  Bring to the boil and cook over a medium heat for 4 minutes.  Cool slightly.

Place the apple mixture into a food processor and mix to a pulp.  Alternatively use a potato masher.  Set the mixture aside.

Heat the remainder of the apple juice until it is fairly hot.  Whisk in the cornflour paste and bring the juice to the boil, whisking constantly and vigorously.  Simmer, still whisking for 2 minutes.  Cool slightly.

Stir the thickened juice into the apple mixture and mix well.  Allow to cool slightly.

Pour the apple mixture into the pastry case.

Meringue Ingredients

  •  3 egg whites
  • 15g caster sugar

Meringue Method

Place the egg whites into a bowl together with 2 tspns of caster sugar.

Whisk the egg whites until they reach soft peaks.

Gently add the remainder of the sugar, bit by bit, whisking after every addition, until all of the sugar is incorporated.

Gently spoon the egg white on top of the flan, making sure that the apple is completely covered.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden.

Note:  This is a direct transcript of the recipe.  I had trouble with the pastry and am not sure if it is because I took a short-cut and made it in a food processor.  I make pastry quite often and the recipe always calls for plain flour so I’m not sure why SR flour is used here.  I didn’t cook the pie for 45-50 minutes as seeing the pastry and the apple mixture are already cooked I just turned up the heat of the oven to lightly brown the meringue and found it was ready in 15 minutes.  I believe this recipe could be greatly simplified but it is definitely worth making as it is very delicious and a great take on the usual lemon meringue pie. 

 

Comments

  1. I have absolutely no desire to go on a cruise. I cannot stand the thought of being stuck on there with a gazillion other people and not being able to get up and get away from everyone !
    Love hugs and positive energy
    Me

  2. I love these Titanic recipe’s! Keep them coming Darl.
    The Apple Meringue Pie was sensational. There’s some left over in the fridge… might go and have some now!
    x

  3. No desire to get on a cruise for me, love my solid ground activities 🙂 The recipe looks great though, will be the closest thing I get to the Titanic or any other cruise for now I think!

  4. I had no idea there were recipes from the Titanic!! I have cruised many, many times and this was shocking to me. My thoughts exactly as to how this could happen with all the technology on the ship to alert of any possible dangers. Cruising was a way as a single mother to take my kids on a vacation where all was inclusive, they could pretty much do whatever they wanted, I got to relax and we were all happy. Ships now have more real restaurants…not all buffet!! But the food has never been the attraction for me on a cruise!! Believe it or not, I always lost weight after a cruise!!

    • hotlyspiced says:

      Hi, I’m so glad you’ve had some wonderful cruising experiences and I’ve probably made too many generalisations. I just prefer to holiday with smaller amounts of people. I agree, when you’re taking children on a holiday, all-inclusive is the way to go. Yes, there is a cookbook dedicated to the food that was served on board. It’s been written by Yvonne Hume whose Great-Uncle was the leading violinist on board and one of the musicians who played until the end. She believes this to be the case because of testimony from survivors and because his body was found without a life jacket meaning he probably didn’t have time to put one on. I’ve cooked a few recipes from her cookbook and I’ll group them in a category under my ‘recipe’ tab.

  5. This recipe could be called mile-high meringue! I don’t generally eat cooked fruit (my family thinks I’m weird), but this pie might work for me as the apples are pureed. Lovely photo.

  6. The Titanic took 2 hours to sink, there was no or little panic even though they were far away from dry land. They were expecting help from other ships since the trans-Atlantic is busy. It is shocking what happened recently. The captain with more than 4000 persons on board changed course. Imagine a plane doing that?
    BTW, your site keeps disappearing from my dashboard/reading list. Its perhaps a compatibility issue, not meant to be:) I won’t be a regular reader but I will come by from time to time when I remember:)

  7. Recipes from the Titanic? I had no idea! Nor have I ever seen a recipe for an Apple Meringue Pie. Thanks so much for posting it!

    I went on a cruise once with my mother and am glad I did, but basically large cruise ships hold no interest for me though the food is generally reported to be really excellent.

  8. Despite the fact that I grew up on an island, I can’t swim too well, so…boating isn’t my number one thing to do, that’s for sure! I have never had any desire to go on a cruise…not even less!

  9. No never a desire to go cruising. It is an astonishing sight to see a modern day accident such as this and I cant believe it. Interesting recipe. It certainly would be better with Bramley apples that are hard to come by here

  10. Would love to make this if for no other reason than the shock value. No one would expect that it would be an apple meringue but then, for the real surprise, tell them where the recipe came from. No cruises for me. No organized tours, either. I’ve done some traveling and have done very well on my own. I like setting my own schedule and, if I like what I see, being able to spend as much time as I like there.

  11. Yay! I find lemon meringue pie too tart (I prefer desserts of the sickly-sweet variety), so I’ll definitely give this a go. 🙂

  12. The Costa Concordia running aground is so awful and unbelievably sad for the families now dealing with the loss of a loved one. Like Linda I had no idea that recipes from the Titanic were available – the pie looks good.

    • hotlyspiced says:

      Hi, I’ve added a ‘Recipes from the Titanic’ category to the recipe section of my blog. If you click on that it will bring up about four different recipes I have cooked so far. Looking forward to doing a few more.

  13. I used to be jealous whenever I hear someone’s on a cruise holiday. I’ve never been on one and thought it would be so fun to travel around the world on one. Not anymore. That nightmarish accident was just horrible! I was thinking the same about it being similar to Titanic (which was my favourite movie ever). So sad for the victims.

    With that said, your recipe sounds delicious 😀

  14. No cruising for me, but I will gladly indulge in a slice of you wonderful pie!
    Such a horrid event with the Costa Concordia.

  15. I want to go on a cruise just to say I’ve been on one. All that food all the time would be tempting, but I’d look forward more for the cities we’d dock in for the day.

  16. No desire what so ever to go on a cruise. I could go a slice of your pie though!

  17. Oh this apple meringue pie just looks so scrumptious and inviting. It’s definitely inviting me to make it so I can enjoy it lol. And I am shocked at the captains actions on that cruise ship. I just can not believe he abandoned ship and refused to get back on even when the coast guard urged him to do so. Now he’s changing his story and claiming he fell into the life boat. I just feel so sorry for those people and I hope some will be found alive.

  18. I’ve never been on a cruise and that sheer fact has me wanting to know what it would be like. Equally I would be orried about being stuck at sea if I didn’t like it. If this is what is being served for dessert though….

  19. Oh I remember your Titanic series! Glad to see that it’s back. It is utterly shocking and awful to see the footage of the Costa Concordia. What a nightmare for those poor people.

  20. I didn’t have any desire to get on a cruise as I just don’t like the feeling of getting stuck on the ship (I like going out and explore), and I just feel like I won’t change my mind for a while after the incident. I feel so sorry for those people. 🙁

    Your Apple Meringue Pie looks beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. I’ve never made this pie before but hope to make it one day just like yours. It is definitely wow recipe!

  21. Looks like we can’t never experience a cruiseliner and the adventures of going on a cruise anymore — this experiences has definitely scarred us. What a waste!

    But not this dessert — it left me salivating 😀 Which is always a good thing for a foodie who has a huge sweet tooth!

  22. This was perfect! Tasted so good

  23. What a sad event 🙁 I have always been scared of boating, and never interested in packaged tours. Some how I got talked into going on a cruise in about three weeks tome to new caledonia and Vanuatu…

    Assuming all goes well I will report back on the food and activities…

    Still very apprehensive 🙁

  24. I have never had a desire to hop on a cruise ship; driving around town is dangerous enough (for the other drivers, not me 🙂

    Although, I’d be tempted to get on a boat if they served your Apple Meringue Pie. Looks dangerously delicious.

    • hotlyspiced says:

      Thanks Mary. It is a great pie and quite different to lemon meringue pie because it doesn’t have the tartness.

  25. I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise ship but now I’m a bit afraid, anyways I would love to stay home and make this delicious looking pie

  26. I’m on a cruise ship right now. I turned on the TV on the first night and heard of the disaster on CNN. Not want you want to see when you start a 14 day cruise. I happen to be on a rather nice one though so am enjoying the relaxing and all-you-can eat (a little too much).

    • hotlyspiced says:

      Oh wow! A 14 day cruise. That sounds fabulous. I’m sure you’ll be absolutely fine. That Italian captain is locked up so won’t be going anywhere near your vessel. Have a wonderful cruise.

  27. Yes, those images were shocking. What a lovely pie – the fluffy meringue on top is irresistable.

  28. I don’t think cruises are for me – well, not at this stage anyway. When I travel I like to see, smell, walk and explore where I view cruises as more like giant floating hotels or resorts. Knowing me, I’d probably get sick of the view after a while!

  29. I can’t believe what happened to the Costa Concordia…so sad. I have never been interested in going on a cruise. I have been to many Caribbean Islands and have watched the people scramble on and off the ship only to spend a few hours exploring the island. I like to go to a destination and really get to know it. This Apple Meringue Pie looks great…I have never heard of it before. I might have to give it a try! 🙂

  30. When i first saw the photo I thought it was a lemon meringue pie, but it terms out to be an apple meringue very creative 😀

    I went on a cruise with my parents when I was a kid and it was one of the worse experiences! I was so so so bored and I felt like i was still on the cruise even after 5 days!

    But having said that I’d love to go on the Disney cruises 🙂

  31. An apple meringue sounds awesome! So pretty and so creative. And how fun that it’s from the Titanic! No idea they had a cookbook… The only cruise I want to do is Alaska, mostly because I heard that’s the best way to see everything. Definitely don’t like the idea of being stuck on the boat with limited time allowed on land… and sinking would suck…

  32. Apple meringue pie sounds pretty yummy and you have just reminded me I have to locate the Titanic menu cookbook I bought about 20 years ago when I was a Titanic and her sister ships addict (pre The Titanic movie making it so popular). I actually have many books on the Titanic and her sisters. I have no desire to ever go on a cruise to be honest and I often think there is something to be said for staying at home – a cruise ship is unlikely to land on my house in suburban Canberra and it is also highly unlikely to be subject to a hijacking or bombing or other shocking event or tragedy (I hope any way, fingers crossed!).

  33. oh thses look perfect! i have always dreamt of going on a cruise, but not anymore 🙁 tragic

  34. Definitely not a combination I would have put together, but I guess its a bit similar-but better- than that old fashioned apple snow recipe we made at school.
    My mum enjoys cruising, and says its cheaper to cruise full time than to pay rent/ fees to a retirement village, do she’s considering it as a viable option for when she’s older!

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