Cranberry-Raisin Pie (Mock Cherry Pie)
When fresh cherries are out of season, a cranberry-raisin pie makes a wonderful “mock cherry pie” substitute.
Cranberry-Raisin Pie (Mock Cherry Pie)
Photo Credit : Mark Fleming | Styling by Catrine KeltyCranberry-raisin pie recipe and memories from the Brass Sisters, Marilynn and Sheila.
We received this recipe from Kristina Bracciale, a friend from WGBH. She’s from an old New England family, and this was the variation on cherry pie that they would serve out of season, substituting the more plentiful cranberries found in Massachusetts for the pricier summer cherries. Interestingly, Kristina said cranberry-raisin pie was always served with a block of cream cheese on the table. You’d shave off what you wanted and eat a little bit of cream cheese with each bite of pie.
Yield:
a 9-inch pie; 8 to 10 slicesFor the crust
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 16 slices
1/4 cup ice water
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash
Instructions
To make the crust: Put the flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, and pulse three times. Add the butter and pulse until crumbly. Add the ice water and pulse until mixture comes together. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured counter, divide in half, and shape each half into a disk.
Roll out each disk of dough between two sheets of floured wax paper or parchment paper until you have a circle that measures 11 inches in diameter. Peel off the paper from one piece of dough, then transfer the latter to a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the edges so that the dough hangs over the rim by 1/4-inch, then cover with plastic wrap. Fold up the other piece of dough, still in its paper, and chill both in the refrigerator.
For the filling
Ingredients
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons water, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed, drained, and cut in half
2 cups raisins (preferably jumbo)
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons minus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
Next, make the filling: In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together 2 cups water with the sugar, salt, cranberries, raisins, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Combine the cornstarch and remaining 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl until smooth. Stir this into the cranberry mixture. When the filling has thickened slightly, transfer it to a bowl and cool to room temperature.
Set the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 450°. Cover a 14-by-16-inch baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
Pour the cooled filling into the chilled bottom crust. Brush the edge of the crust with the egg wash. Remove the top crust from the refrigerator and peel off the paper. Use the cookie cutter of your choice to cut out a design in the center, then transfer the top crust to the filled pie. Press together the edges of the crusts to seal. Using kitchen scissors, trim excess crust from the edges so they fit the pie plate. Make a decorative edge with fork tines (or your fingers). Brush more egg wash over the top and edges of the pie.
Place the pie onto the baking sheet and transfer to the oven; bake 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° and bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling in the cutout, 30 to 35 minutes more. Check the pie halfway through baking to be sure the crust is not browning too quickly; place a foil tent over the pie for the rest of the baking time if necessary. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. (The pie will slice more evenly if it’s completely cool.) Store at room temperature.
