Can 'Pushing Daisies' Increase Awareness of Pie With Cheese?
Photo from GirlieErin on Flickr
The second season of Pushing Daisies is back on ABC this Wednesday, and as a pie enthusiast, I believe this can only be good for the world. The show is about a guy with magical death-reversing powers, but more importantly, it's about pie. Ned is a pie-maker at "The Pie Hole," where, last season, he whipped up an apple pie with Gruyère baked into the crust to cheer up his girlfriend's cheese-loving spinster aunts. (He also laced anti-depressants into the batter, but that's another story).
The apple pie with cheese theory has roots in England, where it developed the nickname "Yorkshire pie." At first slightly gross-sounding, the concept grows on you. The marriage between fruit and cheese has always been a functional one, so how's a pie crust going to stop that?
Once I heard someone say, "an apple pie with cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze." Do you agree? Would the combo cheer you up, as it did for the spinster aunts? With apple season here, this question is especially timely.
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21 Comments:
I love that show! The pies look pretty good too.
misseditor at 8:13PM on 09/29/08
I would absolutely love to try an apple pie with Gruyère baked into the crust. That cheese seems to go really well with fruit, I had one of those fake chicken cutlets that Quorn makes stuffed with Gruyère and cranberries, and it's one of the best things I've ever eaten.
JigsawJones at 8:22PM on 09/29/08
I grew up with my mom making the best apple pie with a sharp cheddar cheese crumble top. *drool*
Seems perfectly agreeable to me!
GretchinF at 8:41PM on 09/29/08
The apple pie/cheese/squeeze line is generations old, not that there's anything wrong with that. And one of the old-line cookbooks - Fanny Farmer? - had a recipe for a cheese-pastried apple pie. I prefer cheese with fresh apples myself, but then it's rare that an apple pie makes me stand up and cheer, generally.
lemons at 8:42PM on 09/29/08
I have Midwestern roots and growing up cheese was almost always offered with apple pie. Then I move to New York, and when slicing into a pie with my new boyfriend (now husband) and his family, I asked if there was any Cheddar to go with it. They all looked at me as if I were out of my mind. They had NEVER heard of apple pie with cheese. Their loss.
On another (but similar) note, there is no better snack than crisp slices of apple with cubes of sharp Cheddar.
Dee at 8:43PM on 09/29/08
Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's Chuck who whips up the apple-gruyere pie with the homeopathic mood-enhancers, not Ned. Let's give props where they're due!
Matcha at 8:46PM on 09/29/08
I don't EVER eat dessert and this is TURNING me on!!!!!
izatryt at 8:46PM on 09/29/08
I'm not so sure about baking it into the crust, but cheese with apples is a marriage made in heaven. I love cheddar with apple pie, and brie baked in a crust with apples is heaven on earth. I'd certainly try that pie, but not sure I'd bake it.
Pushing Daisies is really different and fun. It's almost like cartoon characters come to life. I loved the episode where the food police raided the pantry and everything was rotten and spoiled, because he had not yet brought the ingredients back to life. It's beautiful and reminds me of the Dick Tracey movie with Warren Beatty - it has that same look and feel.
PerkyMac at 8:55PM on 09/29/08
Thank you for linking to my pie attempt from last year's apple picking expedition Erin. I can't wait to attempt another one this year. The Gruyere crust really is amazing. Some day I'll perfect those messy edges. Thank you again!
Erin at 9:09PM on 09/29/08
I've made an apple tart with cheese - sharp cheddar, romano or feta. My aunt once made an apple strudel with rosemary and parmesan. It was lovely.
piccola at 9:31PM on 09/29/08
I love fruit with cheese, and Gruyere is my favorite cheese. This I've got to try.
buffy at 10:07PM on 09/29/08
I did not grow up with cheese in the pie, but my Grandpa ate his apple pie with sharp cheddar on the side.
KarynMC at 10:18PM on 09/29/08
not sure i'd like it with Gruyere but sharp cheddar oh baby, come to momma!
huneybumper at 10:20PM on 09/29/08
i remember the grownups having a chunk of cheddar with apple pie when i was little.
then when the 70's rolled around they all wanted to be thin, so they took up tennis and quit eating cheese and dessert.
cybercita at 12:59AM on 09/30/08
Yes, yes and yes. I recently made a kugel with apples and goat cheese—an amazing combination. And I think I would love any kind-of Swiss or Cheddar with apples. I'm judging and apple pie contest next month and hope that someone brings in something with cheese.
EmilyFarris at 1:33AM on 09/30/08
I think it goes "An apple pie without some cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze".
http://www.answers.com/topic/an-apple-pie-without-some-cheese-is-like-a-kiss-without-a-squeeze
What's wrong with a little squeeze?
SqueezeBottle at 2:48AM on 09/30/08
my dad has always eaten his apple pie with cheddar (and now i do too)
my mom makes her quiche crusts with cheese in them-i'll have to suggest this to her tho...make dad doubly happy!
gastronomeg at 11:56AM on 09/30/08
I've never tried it or heard of it, but it makes sense! I now want one. Badly. Maybe I can talk my dad into this for Thanksgiving. His apple pies are amazing.:)
Butrflygirly at 12:34PM on 09/30/08
Cheese ALWAYS cheers me up. Seriously, sometimes you just gotta have some quesotherapy. And I'm always up for dessert! I made my own Apple Gruyere pie this weekend for the Brooklyn Pie Social and I can attest to the tastiness of this combo. Next time, I think I might amp the cheese factor slightly. Can't wait to see what pies Ned and Chuck whip up this season!!
BrooklynBrownie at 6:31PM on 09/30/08
@Matcha–seriously! That was all Chuck. For sheesh. I haven't watched the first episode of the season yet but IT WILL BE DONE.
Stufsocker at 12:20PM on 10/02/08
I have a plan for a raspberry pear pie with brie baked into the crust but I have no idea how to bake cheese into a pie crust! Please help. I was thinking about putting a sheet of phyllo between the filling and the cheese and then putting the crust over it, but I'm not sure how well this will work. Any ideas?
Wayfaringarchivist at 7:10PM on 02/28/09