One Good Reason To Be Thankful: Apple-Cranberry Pie

This pie is seriously wonderful. I didn't know what to expect - I'm somewhat of an apple traditionalist, but as I've said, I'm always up for an experiment. And was this ever successful. The tangy cranberry layer takes the comforting, reliable apple to a whole new level. It's not tooth-achingly sweet, either, so you really taste the fruit. A regular autumn bounty. The original recipe is from Cook's Illustrated; I got it here.

Only difference? I didn't make the famed vodka crust, which I do want to try someday, but for which I wasn't willing to drop some cash on a bottle of Stoli. I'm not much of a vodka drinker, anyway. One too many college party memories. Remember those syrupy, too-strong-for-a-human mixtures in plastic red cups? Oh, shudder. Mine were served up at the weird elite engineering/math college across the street from my lovely elite women's college. Okay, fine, I also had my fair share of drinks in Scripps' graceful (but not as prim as they appear) dorms. If I think about it for more than two seconds I'm going to start missing them ... yep. Let's enjoy a photo, shall we?
Le petit sigh.

But back to that fantabulous apple cranberry concotion: I made a standard crust, half butter/half shortening, no grating involved, and it flaked up respectably. This is the kind of pie that makes me feel content and hopeful. Yes, a pie can do that! I need it, too. One, I'm sending the Stegner, P-Town, and Exeter fellowship apps today. Nervous. Two, I'm home visiting family, and there's a fair amount of angst floating around. Here's hoping Thanksgiving over-indulgence and board games calm us down. Meanwhile, enjoy pix of this chubby, homey, wonderful pie. (recipe too).

Cook's Illustrated Apple-Cranberry Pie (with thanks to the classier-than-my-blog Mac & Cheese Review)
2 cups fresh cranberries
¼ cup orange juice
1 cup granulated sugar plus 1 tablespoon for top of pie
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon table salt
¼ cup water
1 generous tbs cornstarch
4 Granny Smith apples and 3 sweeter ones (I used Honey Crisp) peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
1 double pie crust

* Bring cranberries, oj, ½ cup sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally, pressing the berries against the side of the pan with a spoon. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until the berries achieve a thick consistency (scraping spoon across bottom of pan leaves a trail that does not fill in). Remove from heat, and stir in water. Cool to room temp.
* Mix ½ cup sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt, and cornstarch in large saucepan (I used a wok!) Add apples and toss. Cook over med-high heat, stirring once in a while, for 10-14 minutes. Cool to room temp.
* Preheat oven to 425°.
* Roll one disk of the refrigerated dough out to a 12-inch circle. Place dough in pie pan, leaving a 1-inch dough overhang. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
* Spread the cranberry mixture evenly in the dough-lined pie pan. Top with apple mixture.
* Roll the second dough disk out to a 12-inch circle. Place on top of the pie.
* Crimp pie edges. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Cut slits in top of dough.
* Bake for 20-25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°, rotate baking sheet, and bake for 25-30 minutes.
* Cool for at least 2 hours before serving.

Comments

I said…
the pie sees delicious
November 26, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Chris said…
I've seen this Cook's Illustrated recipe for pie dough. Apparently the vodka inhibits the formation of some gluten so you can add more liquid to render a tender crust. From what I've read you can add any alcohol you'd like to the crust so long as the ABV is around 40%. That makes for some interesting possibilities. If you get around to trying to Bourbon let me know!

PS - Your pie sounds delicious.
November 30, 2008 at 7:11 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Made For Each Other: Strawberry Rhubarb

Image
This is a summertime classic, warm and gooey, with sour rhubarb to offset the sweet-but-predictable strawberry. It's a family favorite and definitely one of my pie staples. Plain old strawberry pie verges on saccharine, so you need the rhubarb to kick it up. You know how it is. The best couples usually have a sweet/sour factor going for them - good cop/bad cop, social butterfly/nerd, dreamer/breadwinner, Obama/Biden. Rhubarb is grown in huge quantities in the Northwest but it's hard to find in Texas. In fact, I bought a bunch at the grocery store here and the chec ker asked, "what is this? Is it some kind of red celery?" Gasp, no. It is heavenly. For this pie, I like to go fifty-fifty on the rhubarb to berry ratio, and I slice the strawberries only in half, so you get nice fat bites of them. One caveat: cook and sweeten the rhubarb before filling and baking . It's kind of a tough customer, though nothing a little heat and sugar can't fix. Strawberry-Rhu...
Read more

Home, Sweet Pie

Image
There's a reason I've been slow to post lately - I'm west of Seattle (yes, there is something west of Seattle), land of intermittent internet connections. The north Kitsap Peninsula contains trees, salmon, old loggers, new yuppies, rocky beaches, tons of berry bushes, my huge family, and hundreds of pie bakers. I come back here and I'm put in my place. Of course you make the crust from scratch. And my family will tell me if there's too much cinnamon or the filling is undercooked in the middle. They like my pies, don't get me wrong, but it's a far cry from the city kids I usually eat with. Turns out I'm a bit of city kid myself when I get back; the lazy days and long drive to the grocery store (well, to anything) throw me off at first. Then I adjust. I don't go online, I wander the seaweed-y beach, I tromp around for hours searching out berries ... I couldn't live like this all the time, but it's pretty good stuff for a couple weeks. Morgan an...
Read more