Prep: 30 minutes

Cook: 1 hour

Makes: One 8-inch deep-dish pie, 8 servings

This is one of the most requested recipes at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.

The original recipe from Amelia Simmons’ “American Cookery” of 1796 is quite terse: “Take 12 spoons of stewed apples, 12 of wine, 12 of sugar, 12 of melted butter, and 12 of beaten eggs, a little cream, spice to your taste; lay in paste No. 3, in a deep dish; bake one hour and a quarter.”

This modern adaptation comes from the “Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook.” Pie dough, homemade or store-bought, can substitute for the puff pastry, if desired.

6 tablespoons butter

Juice of 1 lemon

3/4 cup stewed, pureed apples, about 2 apples

3/4 cup sherry

1/2 cup whipping cream

3/4 cup white sugar

4 eggs, beaten

1 sheet puff pastry

2 teaspoons grated nutmeg or to taste

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter in a small saucepan; set aside to cool.

Add lemon juice to apples, sherry, cream and sugar in a bowl; mix well. Add melted butter to mixture, blending well. Add eggs to mixture.

Trim a sheet of puff pastry so that it fits a deep 8-inch pie plate. Season stewed apple mixture with grated nutmeg; spoon mixture into prepared pie plate.

Bake, 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 minutes. Cool before serving.