Rustic Apple Cranberry Pie
So simple you can make it any time!
Ingredients
Homemade Crust (skip if using storebought pie crust)
- 6 1/4 C All-Purpose flour
- 3 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 ounces COLD unsalted butter
Apple-Cranberry Filling
- 5-6 Apples (Granny Smith, Gala) peeled and chopped roughly
- 3/4 C fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries if dried, soak in warm water until plump, then drain and squeeze out excess water.
- 5 T sugar
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 1 zest orange
- 3 T lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2 T COLD unsalted butter diced
- 2 T Grand Marnier or Cointreau OPTIONAL - but, wow!
Topping
- 1 egg beaten
- 3 T sugar Demerara is great! Regular granulated sugar is fine too
Instructions
Homemade Pie Crust
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Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl.
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Cut in COLD butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter, fork, or by smashing butter into flour with your fingertips - or blend all in a food processor until crumbly like sand
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Add 2 tablespoons ice water and mix until you can pinch together and it holds - do not add too much water. This is a dry dough. Adding too much water will make it gummy.
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Press the dough against itself on the side of the bowl to form a mass of dough.
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Press dough into a 5-inch disc and wrap in plastic and chill 20 minutes.
Filling & Dough Prep
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Combine all filling ingredients except the butter in a bowl and toss to combine.
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Refrigerate filling. Have a glass of wine.
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Pre-heat oven to 425°
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On a floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle about 1/4" thick.
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Laminate? Yes...Fold the right then left side into the middle, then fold that in half. Roll that out again and repeat the folding (This is a baking technique called laminating. It will make your pastry nice and flaky.)
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Shape the rectangle into a disk by hand then roll that out into a 13- to14-inch round using a lightly floured rolling pin. As your roll, press the outer edges together to prevent the edges from cracking. (It's ok if you see chunks of butter. That's actually a good thing.)
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your crust on parchment paper and set on a cookie sheet. You don't need the pie or tart dish. It works fine and looks even more rustic without one!
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Put the filling in the center of the dough leaving 2-3" of dough around the filling. You can arrange the apple slices neatly, or just pile it. (I vote for piling it!)
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Fold dough up and around the filling, trying to avoidletting the dough crack. If it does, just pinch it together.
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Set the cubes ofbutter around the filling.
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Brush the top of the crust with the beaten egg then sprinkle with generously with sugar.
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Bake until crust is golden and fruit has softened, 40-50 minutes.
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IMPORTANT! Cool before slicing so all the juices will calm down.