This Apple Cranberry Pie is a seasonal favourite in our house. The filling, of apples and cranberries, flavoured with orange liqueur, and the crunch of nutty pecans, all spiced with cinnamon and cardamom, is warm and festive and all winter cozy.
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Best Apple Varieties For Pie-Making
Every baker has a favourite pie apple, and a lot of them like to use a tart one, like a Granny Smith or a Pippin. And they are perfect. I'm a big fan of Ambrosia apples, and although they are sweet as opposed to tart, that works beautifully in this pie because of the tartness of the cranberries. Ambrosia also has a firm crispness that stands up well to baking. You can learn more about this delicious apple variety here: Ambrosia Apples
Butter vs Shortening Pastry for Pie
I'm not a fan of hydrogenated vegetable shortening, so I make my pastry with butter. I'm going to be honest and admit, that no matter how many times I do it, pastry intimidates me. Pastry making has never been at the top of my list of favourite things to do in the kitchen. And you can probably tell by these photos because I don't even attempt to do any fancy crimping. This apple cranberry pie, however, makes up for its rustic appearance by the tender, flaky crust and absolutely delicious filling.
Pastry 101, Passed
I think I have finally nailed it, after making this pastry again, and again. The secret of course, is keeping the butter from breaking down and incorporating into the dough. So it needs to be cold, and the dough needs to be worked as little as possible. You should still be able to see little chunks of butter. Those butter chunks melt and steam during baking, forming air pockets to give a light, flaky pastry.
Make Double the Dough, & Freeze for Pie Anytime
I like to make a couple of pies ahead of time and freeze them. It's great to have pies in the freezer to pull out for dessert or to bring to a gathering. So this pastry recipe can easily be doubled to make enough for two double-crust pies, and the dough can be frozen.
Now that I'm confident with my pastry, now maybe I can focus on my pie crust decor skills. Who knows, maybe the next pie recipe that you see from me will a little fancier. Maybe.
More Baking with Apples
Apple Ricotta Cake (Gluten-Free)
Apple Cheddar Muffins with Rosemary
Recipe
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Apple Cranberry Pie
Ingredients
Pastry
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, unsalted chilled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- ½ cup ice water plus more as needed
Filling
- 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cup sugar
- â…“ cup orange brandy or liqueur such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau
- 4-5 medium apples peeled, cored, and sliced (about 5 cups)
- juice of half a lemon 1-2 tbsp
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 tablespoon butter
Egg wash & glaze
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoon cold water
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine flour and salt.
- Using a pastry cutter, blend cold butter into flour until butter is in pea-sized chunks
- Add ice water
- Stir quickly until dough pulls together enough to form a ball, using your hands if necessary, and adding more ice water if needed
- Shape dough into a log and divide into two even pieces
- Shape the dough pieces into rounded discs, and wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap.
- Chill in the fridge for an hour.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together cranberries, sugar, and orange brandy.
- Bring to a boil, and lower heat to a simmer, allowing to cook and thicken, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- In a bowl, combine apple slices, pecans, flour, cinnamon, and cardamom.
- In a small bowl whisk egg yolk and cold water together
- Preheat oven to 400°
- Remove one pie dough from fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll the disc quickly, working from the inside out, to form a circle about 2 inches larger than the pie pan, flipping over every few rolls, to keep dough from sticking.
- Drape the dough over the pie pan and press into the pan lightly
- With a sharp knife, or kitchen scissors, trim the excess dough around the pan to about a one inch overhang.
- With your thumb, or a fork, press dough onto the rim of the pan, and roll the excess under to form a neat ridge.
- Fill the pie with the apple & nut mixture, spreading evenly, then pour the cranberry mixture evenly over the apples.
- Take the other disc of dough out of the fridge, and roll out, as above. Place evenly over pie, and crimp edges together on the rim with your thumb, or use a fork.
- Trim away excess dough with a sharp knife or scissors, and roll under.
- With a sharp knife, cut slits in top pie crust for steam to escape
- Brush top of pie with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake in center of oven about 20 minutes, until you see the top beginning to brown.
- Cover pie with a sheet of foil, and reduce oven temperature to 350. Bake 15 minutes, then remove foil.
- Bake a further 15 minutes, until crust is a deep, even golden colour, and the filling is bubbling.
- Allow pie to cool for about an hour to allow it to set before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Samantha @mykitchenlove
I think you have great pastry skills! This pie is pretty. I love the festive more seasonal spin on this Apple pie. YUM!
Colleen
Samantha, thank you for your kind comment. This pie is amazing, and coming from you, if it's pretty, I'm happy. 🙂
Dr. Kimberley | Healthy Life Redesign
Mmmm...I love the addition of cardamom and orange liquor to this recipe Colleen! It adds such a festive flair, especially with the cranberries!
Colleen
Thanks Kimberley! You can't go wrong by adding some booze, right? 🙂
Evelyne CulturEatz
Fabulous filling and yep, crust scares me each time like you but that is one gorgeous flaky crust.
Colleen
Thanks Evelyne! I'm glad I'm not the only one 🙂
Dina
Colleen, this must be a delicious pie judging by how it looks and the list of ingredients. The pie crust looks so flakey, delish. Enjoy the holiday season with your family.
Colleen
Thanks Dina! The pie really was delish, in spite of being rustic in appearance 🙂 Enjoy your holidays, too!