My blog has no ads to distract you ….and actually, for this recipe, I also don’t have step-by-step photos! Argh. Sorry. Use your imagination or call me and I’ll come over and we’ll make this together! Are you ready? Who wants to have some fun AND make something super yummy and really easy? You!!
This is one of those deceptively delicious treats that will make you feel happy and proud. If you love to bake…you’ll enjoy this recipe. You’ll be successful and everyone will love this! It’s rustic which means it will be forgiving when you go to put the crust together because it doesn’t have to look fancy or schmancy!
It’s just the perfect combination of crispy, sugary, flaky crust with a sweet, delicious filling. Can you use storebought pie crust? Yes. But don’t tell me. That will make me sad. It won’t turn out as flakey and it will definitely not look rustic.
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
-
Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl.
-
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
-
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.
-
Press the dough against itself on the side of the bowl to form a mass of dough.
-
Press dough into a 5-inch disc and wrap in plastic and chill 20 minutes.
Filling & Dough Prep
-
Combine all filling ingredients except the butter in a bowl and toss to combine.
-
Refrigerate filling. Have a glass of wine.
-
Pre-heat oven to 425°
-
On a floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle about 1/4" thick.
-
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.)
-
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.)
-
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!
-
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!)
-
Fold dough up and around the filling, trying to avoidletting the dough crack. If it does, just pinch it together.
-
Set the cubes ofbutter around the filling.
-
Brush the top of the crust with the beaten egg then sprinkle with generously with sugar.
-
Bake until crust is golden and fruit has softened, 40-50 minutes.
-
IMPORTANT! Cool before slicing so all the juices will calm down.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. So. Much. Yum!
Leave a Reply