"April Fool!," my young neighbor cried with great glee.  She had just baked a pie for her father, and she couldn't wait until he tasted it.  It looked like apple pie.  It tasted like apple pie, but there wasn't an apple in it. "It's made with Ritz crackers!,"  she announced triumphantly.  He was appropriately impressed and declared she'd won the traditional tease.

It wasn't until some years later that I discovered that that recipe -- or one very much like it -- was invented around 1852 by a group of pioneer women for their children who missed the apple pie they'd had "back east."  In Helen Evans Brown's West Coast Cookbook, she quotes Mrs. B. C. Whiting's How We Cook In Los Angeles (1894),  "The deception was most complete and readily accepted.  Apples at this early date were a dollar a pound, and we young people all craved a piece of Mother's apple pie to appease our homesick feelings."    The recipe was referred to as "California Pioneer Apple Pie, 1852", and the crackers used at that time were "soda crackers" which were mixed with brown sugar, water and citrus acid and cinnamon.

After Ritz crackers were created in the early 1930's a recipe for Mock Apple Pie began appearing on the box.  Apples were once again expensive and homemakers in those years were once again able to use crackers in order to give their children a taste of apple pie.

You might also enjoy trying a Ritzy Pecan Pie, using Ritz crackers, egg whites and pecans, as well as another Ritz Pecan Pie made with egg whites but which also includes some chocolate.

Recently, another Ritz cracker curiosity has appeared on the World Wide Web, using Ritz crackers and dipping chocolate to simulate the taste and texture of the chocolate mint cookies that are sold each year by the Girl Scouts.  Click here for a recipe for "Faux Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies."

However, if you want to try the traditional Ritz recipe for Mock Apple Pie, don't serve the pie warm, serve it cool or cold.  And yes, it tastes fine with a slice of cheese or a scoop of ice cream... And it's a perfect -- and historic -- April Fool joke.

1.  Place sugar, cream of tartar and water in saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer for 15 minutes.  Add grated lemon rind and lemon juice.  Allow to cool.

2.   Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

3.    Roll out half the pastry and line a 9 inch pie plate. Place coarsely-broken cracker crumbs in pie crust.   Pour cooled syrup over crackers.  Dot with butter or margarine and sprinkle with cinnamon.

4.   Roll out remaining pastry; place over pie.  Trim, seal and flute edges.  Slit top to allow steam to escape.  Bake at 425 F for 30-35 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden.  Cool completely before serving.
 

Who Cooked That Up? is copyrighted 1998 by J.J. Schnebel
Revised February 2002, 2006
all rights reserved for your pleasure and enlightenment

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