Aaron's Cran-Apple Pie

Aaron's grandmother has a really amazing pie crust recipe and he has used it several times to make various pies for us. He made a cranberry apple pie for our Thanksgiving tomorrow and was really excited to blog about it :). So take it away, Aaron!

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Thanksgiving is approaching and to me, that gets me excited about pie. I have never been a big pumpkin pie fan and I usually prefer apple. But since Amy doesn't like plain apple pie very much I thought of combining cranberries and apples into a pie. I combined some things from a blueberry pie recipe I make sometimes with an apple pie recipe I make and also researched several different cran-apple pies online from Better Homes and Garden, All Recipes, Pillsbury, and Taste of Home.

To make a great pie I used my grandmother's old pie-crust recipe that she always used to use. I've modified it a bit for my own cooking styles - mainly that she was better with a rolling pin than I am so I've made a bit of a thicker pie crust that's easier to roll out. 

Aaron's Cran-Apple Pie

1/2 cup sugar 
1/4 cup water 
2 cups fresh cranberries 
2 teaspoons finely shredded orange peel 
1 tablespoon white whole wheat flour 
3 tablespoons corn starch

5 apples
1/3 cup sugar 
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

3/4 cup butter flavored Crisco
2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ice cold water
Cinnamon sugar to taste
Butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Step 1: Boil down the cranberries
Wash and dry the cranberries. Grate the orange peel. Sous-chef Amy used a micro-plane greater to grate the orange peel and then put it in a small bowl by the stove top.

In a saucepan, bring 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water to boil. Then stir in the cranberries and the orange peel. Save about a 1/2 cup of cranberries and set them aside. Stir in 1 tbsp flour and 3 tbsp corn starch. 

This should take about ten minutes but once it gets thick, you want to turn the heat off and set it aside to cool.

  

Step 2: Prepare the apples

Meanwhile, you need to be peeling the apples, quartering them, coring them, and then slicing them into wedges that were about 1/4 of an inch thick. Sous-chef Amy used a mandolin to speed this process up. 

In another bowl, combine 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. You should mix with a fork or shake so that it becomes a dry mixture. 

Add the apples and shake so that the apples are coated with the mixture. 

Now add the remaining cranberries and then also the boiled down cranberry mixture and set the bowl aside to cool. 

Step 3: Make the pie crust

In a separate bowl combine the 3/4 cup Crisco, 2 1/4 cup flour, and salt in a bowl. Cut in the Crisco and then combine with a fork. When the mixture has small clumps and all the flour appears to be mixed in, add the cold water. I added it 1/4 cup at a time, you don't want too much water or the dough will be too difficult to roll out. Additionally, it needs to be cold water or it doesn't work as well.  

Roll out half of the dough on a flat surface. I used a cutting board to make clean up easier. 

Set aside half of the dough for the top crust. 

Once you have rolled out and flattened the dough enough, transfer it to the pie plate. To make that easier, I use a spatula to make sure none of the edges stick to the cutting board and use that tool to help lay the crust down into the plate. 

To add a little more flavor, I put some vegan butter around the bottom of the crust.

Step 4: Finishing touches
Add the fruit mixture to the pie plate. I smoothed the filing so that it was even throughout.

Add the top crust. I followed the same steps as from the bottom crust.

Before fluting the edges I rolled the crusts together - you want to keep in the juices and avoid making a mess at the bottom of your oven. If you are worried about that, put a tray with some aluminum foil down beforehand. I didn't though.

Flute the edges by pressing your thumb and forefinger together from one hand and pushing in with your other thumb (as shown below). Do this all the way around to combine the crusts. 

I added some vegan butter on top...

...and some of that cinnamon sugar to taste...

...and cut some holes in the top. You want some air to get out so that the pie doesn't boil over or burn. 

The oven should be preheated to 375 degrees. The pie will cook for about 50-60 minutes. You can check on it every 10 minutes or so. If the top or sides start to get too brown, you can cover it with tin foil. I rarely do that but tried it this time. 

With the extra dough that I cut away I made some pie dough cookies and simply tossed them on a baking pan (that was sprayed with non stick spray), added some vegan butter and sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on them. They only need about 10 minutes. 

When the juices start to bubble through you know the pie is done. Take it out and leave it on a wrack to cool.