This Christmas, we are making our Apple-Cranberry Pie with Honeycrisp apples. It is so simple and has such a festive appearance. Sweet Honeycrisp apples complement tart cranberries, making this dessert a delicious combination of fall/winter fruits.
Ingredients:
PÂTE BRISÉE (makes 1 pie crust)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
2-tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-tablespoons ice water plus additional, if necessary
FILLING
5-6 cups of fresh Michigan Honeycrisp apples (peeled, cored, and sliced).
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1- teaspoon ground cinnamon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1-teaspoon orange zest
1-teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tbsp brandy
1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
pinch of kosher salt
TOPPING
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
TO MAKE PÂTE BRISÉE
In a large bowl, blend the flour, the butter, the vegetable shortening, and the salt until the mixture resembles a meal. Add the two tablespoons of ice water, toss the mixture until the water is incorporated, add the additional ice water if necessary to form a dough, and form the dough into a ball. Dust the dough with flour and chill it, wrapped in wax paper, for 1 hour.
Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface, fit it into a 9-10-inch (6-cup capacity) pie plate, and flute the edge decoratively. Chill the shell while making the topping and the filling.
TO MAKE TOPPING:
Whisk together the flour, sugar, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and toss the mixture together with your hands.
Break the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of small pebbles-- about 4 minutes.
TO MAKE FILLING:
Whisk together sugar, brown sugar, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, orange zest, and salt in a large bowl.
Melt butter in a large skillet; add cranberries and apples and cook over medium-high heat until apples are slightly tender and cranberries begin to split about 5 to 7 minutes.
Add brandy, maple syrup, lemon juice, and vanilla, then cook for 1 minute more. Add fruit to sugar mixture and toss together until combined.
TO BAKE:
Preheat oven to 350° F
Spoon apple and cranberry filling into the chilled bottom crust and sprinkle with crumble topping.
Place pie on a preheated baking sheet and bake for 60 to 65 minutes, until the crumble topping is golden and the filling is bubbling.
Cool the pie on a wire rack for at least 3 hours before serving (filling thickens as it cools).
ENJOY!
