A Nontraditional Apple Cranberry Pie

I’m taking an online pie baking class. I’m up to lesson 7 - Fruit Pies.

For the assignment, several recipes are presented. I needed to choose one, make the pie, write an essay about the experience, and post a photo.

I chose an Apple Cranberry Pie. This one caught my attention because it seemed very unusual. To make the pie filling, the fruit is boiled together with raspberry gelatin and instant vanilla pudding. I had to see how that would turn out!

The first step was to bake a pie shell in a 9 inch pie plate.

While the crust was baking, then cooling, I sliced the apples, rinsed and thawed the cranberries that were in my freezer, and got all the ingredients together. 

I brought the fruit, sugar, and water to a boil. I kept stirring while it was boiling for five minutes. I added the gelatin and instant pudding and kept stirring while it boiled for another five minutes.

Then I rolled out the upper crust for the pie. So far, so good...

I carefully poured the filling into the pie shell and topped it with the crust. This is where it became very challenging. The unbaked crust did not want to stick to the bottom crust. Parts of it broke off. I ended up carefully wrapping the crust under the rim and using a fork to gently seal it.

The oven was preheated to 425 degrees F. I placed the pie on an upper rack and baked it for about 12 minutes, or until the crust was done.

Not too bad, considering...

I let the pie cool, then refrigerated it. It tasted good, sweet and tart - with ice cream to go with it.

To make this pie again, I would not make the top crust. Instead, I would use my mini pie cutters to cut the rolled out dough into small shapes. They could bake at the same time the pie shell was baking. Then the prebaked shapes could be placed on top of the pie fill. This would be easier and quicker and, I think, more attractive. 

So now it's on to lesson 8.

Apple Cranberry Pie

Ingredients

3 cups peeled and sliced apples (Granny Smith)

1 1/2 ups cranberries

3 1/2 oz. raspberry gelatin (small box)

3 1/2 oz. instant vanilla pudding (small box)

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup sugar

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. 

1.   In a sauce pan, boil apples, cranberries, water, and sugar for 5 minutes, stirring continuously.

2.   Add raspberry gelatin and vanilla pudding. Boil and stir continuously for 5 minutes until well-mixed. Set aside to cool.

3.   Slowly pour fruit mixture into a baked pie shell.

4.   Cover with another unbaked pie shell. Slit the top of the pie to vent while baking.

5.   Bake at 425 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes, or until top crust is done.

Happy Baking!

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