Cranberry-Raspberry Pie and a New Year

Happy 2014!

New year, new pie post.

(Hopefully I won’t be saying “Happy 2015” before I write again.)

We had several Christmas gatherings in the past week, and of course I made a few pies. We hosted my side of the family in our home, and I made a chocolate chip pecan pie, which I have already shared. For gathering with my husband’s side of the family in Minnesota, I brought a cranberry-raspberry pie.

I saw this pie being prepared on the winter holiday edition of Iowa Ingredient. (You can watch the segment here.) The recipe was shared by sisters Amy Barton and Elaine Keuning, who own and operate All About Pies, in Monroe, Iowa. I think it’s hard to find a good pie away from home, so I’m always interested in finding places to try good, homemade pie. I’m planning a day very soon to take my kids snowshoeing out on the prairie, and since Monroe is just down the road from the refuge, we may have to make a little detour and pick up a pie to take home.

I’m always looking for new ideas for using cranberries, especially in pies, and Christmas seemed like the perfect time to try this combination. I loved the tart bitterness of the cranberries paired with the flavor of the raspberries, and the almond flavoring hinted just a bit at cherry. If you plan to serve this pie minus the ice cream (the only way to eat pie, in my humble opinion), you may want to bump up the sugar just a bit, depending on your sweet tooth.

This is a pie worth eating again and again, so stock up on the cranberries in your freezer and you can make it whenever you want.

Yours in pie,

Mindy

Cranberry-Raspberry Pie

adapted from recipe by Amy and Elaine of All About Pies, Monroe, IA

Pastry for double-crust 9-inch pie

1 ½ c. coarsely chopped fresh cranberries

3 c. partially-thawed, frozen red raspberries

½ tsp. almond extract

¼ c. flour

1 ¼ to 1 1/3 c. sugar (to suit taste)

1 T. butter

Milk

Sparkling sugar

Line the pie plate with the bottom crust.  In a bowl, combine cranberries, raspberries, almond extract, flour, and sugar. Spoon filling into pie plate; dot filling with small pieces of the butter. Apply and adjust the top crust; trim, seal, and flute edges; cut slits to vent steam. Brush top crust lightly with milk and sprinkle on sparkling sugar. Cover edges of crust loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°. Remove foil; bake about 35-45 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

I shared this recipe on Full-Plate Thursday at Miz Helen's Country Cottage.