Apple pie season has arrived in our home. This is my sweetheart's favorite pie. No matter what other elaborate cakes or tarts I made, in the end he would always request a good old apple pie. I am used to making my pies in a springform, but I just got a beautiful pie dish on the weekend and was eager to try it out.
I found the recipe on the website of the Gourmet Book Club, which always had great recommendations on beautiful and useful cookbooks. This recipe is from the book Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson and is originally for an Apple Blackberry Pie.
I still had a lot of cranberries from our recent visit to the cranberry festival, and decided to use those instead of the blackberries. The cranberries gave the pie a great tartness and it was really delicious. After reading all the good reviews of the book and the great tasting pie I ordered the book today and anxiously waiting for its arrival.
Apple Cranberry Pie
adapted from Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson
makes a 9-inch (23cm) pie
2 ½ cups (250g) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoons fine sea salt
1 cups (225g) butter, cold
½ cup ice water
1 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/3 cup (65g) brown sugar
2 tablespoons (30g) butter, cold
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch of salt
3 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl, cut the butter into 1-inch cubes, then add it to the flour mixture and toss to evenly coat. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender, food processor, or your hands, just until the mixture becomes coarse and crumbly.
Stir the water and lemon juice together, then drizzle over the dry ingredients, 1/3 at a time, tossing with a fork to distribute the liquid. The pastry will be shaggy but should hold together when squeezed in the palm of your hand; if not, add an additional teaspoon or two of ice water.
Dump the pastry onto a lightly floured work surface and press down on the dough, folding it over on itself a few times until it holds together. Try not to handle it too much, or it will warm up and may become overdeveloped. Divide the pastry into two equal parts and shape each piece into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Combine the apples and brown sugar in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes to draw out some of the juices.
Roll out 1 disk of the pastry and place it in a 9-inch (23cm) dish. Dock the dough with a fork 30 to 40 times. Roll the second disk into a 10-inch (25.5 cm) round and put the pastry in the refrigerator to chill.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 Celsius) and butter your dish.
Strain the juice from the apples into a small pan over low heat, add the butter, and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half. Rub the granulated sugar, cornstarch, ginger, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. Add the cranberries and lemon juice and gently toss to coat. Pour in the reduced juice, add the apples, and toss gently until thoroughly combined.
Pour the filling into the pie shell and top with the second crust. Crimp the edges and cut a steam vent in the top. Put in the oven and place a crust shield (I used parchment paper) over the pie. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celsius) and bake an additional 45 minutes, or until crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling. Cool for about 3 hours before serving.
Enjoy and Guten Appetit!
