The Top Trending Pie On Pinterest Is The Classic Apple
Think fast: What pies come to mind when you're dreaming of Thanksgiving dinner? If you said pecan and pumpkin, you're not alone. Pumpkin and pecan are both seasonal autumn ingredients native to the Americas, and the history of these pies is a proud piece of Americana.
There's a lot behind the associations of these pies with Thanksgiving. Pecan pie was invented in Texas and became a national staple in the 20th century, per Eater. And since the nuts are typically harvested through November, the dessert is a natural sweet ending at the Turkey Day table. Pumpkins' cultivation in the Americas, meanwhile, dates all the way back to 5500 B.C. (via The History Channel), so it seems inevitable that a holiday celebrating American history would feature pumpkins.
But sometimes there's a difference between what we think we should bake and what we actually want to eat. For many Americans, dessert hankerings depend a lot on where we're from, a reality proven by pie popularity data throughout the 50 states. According to Yahoo, pecan pie really is the most popular in a number of southern states; pumpkin pie holds the top spot in several states out West; and Midwesterners love cherry pie best. And while these three pies are certainly popular, they're not quite as beloved as America's number-one pie.
Apple pie is a humble winner
But what's the pie that Americans love most, that one that has stolen more hearts than any other? According to Yahoo's poll, the most popular pie across the country is also the most popular Thanksgiving pie. Drumroll: It's the humble apple pie.
There's a reason we talk about something being as American as apple pie. It's not because apples are native; they were brought to the Americas by Europeans (albeit pretty early on, explains Smithsonian). Pies aren't American, either, as they were a standard part of English cookery prior to colonial times, per The History Channel. But we've cultivated apples across the U.S. for centuries now and love them in all their many varieties.
And yet, while this country certainly knows its apples, people don't know them well enough to have their go-to apple pie recipe memorized by heart — as revealed by recent Pinterest data. Search records from this past October show that apple pie was the top-searched pie on the platform (via Taste of Home). Interestingly, states weren't always searching for classic apple pie; several looked up apple crumb or Dutch apple.
In some ways, nothing sums up the essence of pie better than apple: the soft yet firm consistency of the fruit, lightly sweetened but still tart, and the flaky crust enveloping the apples from underneath and on top, so that each mouthful is a full experience of crust and filling. It's no wonder the unassuming apple pie has taken first prize — with or without a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.