Cranberry madness! Are you sick of me yet? Muffins, cookies, upside-down cakes — I might be about to turn INTO a cranberry myself. Lucky for you, this is my LAST post about cranberry for a while — I used up most of my giant bag o' cranberries, and now I'm on vacation for an entire 11 days! That means, barring any unforeseen circumstances, y'all won't have to stomach any more cranberry.
Umm, did you see my use of y'all up there? Lately I've found myself, often, wanting to use "y'all" because it seems SO DARN APPLICABLE! I really don't say "you all" because it sounds weird to me, and "y'all" just encompasses exactly what I'm trying to say. Except I'm not from the South, and I feel like an impostor for saying it. Now that I have a killer pair of slightly-cowboy-yet-still-uber-stylish boots, I might not look like such a fake.
Back to cranberry.
This pie came about at Thanksgiving, pretty much by accident. I was making an apple pie, and Mom was making the kind cranberry sauce you press through a sieve — leaving you with cranberry "pulp" that really shouldn't be wasted! I threw it into the pie, and was SO glad I did! It was incredible!
I came home and decided I should re-create it, although this time I used whole cranberries instead. I love a good apple pie, but adding the cranberries was such a flavor-punch (is that a term?) — I might never go back! Serve it withs some vanilla ice cream and you have a serious winner.
I don't peel my apples — it seems like a waste, and I like the texture, but feel free to do so if you prefer. For this recipe, with the tartness of the cranberries, I wasn't worried about choosing "too sweet" of an apple variety — it isn't going to hurt the pie! I also don't mind a slightly crunchy pie, but if you like totally soft apples I recommend cooking them on the stove until they begin to soften before putting them in the pie.
Apple Cranberry Pie
1 double pie crust
2 ½ - 3 lbs apples, chopped
1 ½ cups fresh cranberries
2 tablespoon lemon juice
⅔ cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
sugar for sanding crust
Prepare a pie pan with the bottom crust.
Toss the chopped apples, cranberries, and lemon juice together in a bowl. Mix the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a small bowl. Combine the apple mixture with the sugar mixture.
Pour the filling into the prepared crust, then cover with the second crust, cut slits in the top, and crimp edges together. Put the pie in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 F. When the pie has been chilled for 30 minutes, brush the crust with beaten egg and sprinkle liberally with sugar. Bake 20 minutes before turning the heat down to 350 F, then continue baking for another 60 minutes. Cover the pie with tin foil if the crust is browning too much.
Let the pie cool before cutting!
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