Monday, February 1, 2010

Cranberry Velvet Pie

This is a fun and tasty pie. I got it out of a Wondertime magazine a few years back. As the recipe states, this may not be 'simple as pie', but it's more delicious than most.

For the crust:
*1 1/2 c. flour
*1 TBSP. fresh-grated orange rind
*2 TBSP. sugar
*1/4 tsp. salt
*3/4 c. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4" slices
*1 large egg
*1/2 tsp. vanilla

For the filling:
*4 c. fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
*1/2 c. orange juice
*2 TBSP. lemon juice
*1 1/4 c. sugar
*pinch of salt
*6 large egg yolks
*1/2 c. unsalted butter; sliced into 8 pieces
*1 TBSP. fresh-grated orange rind
*Whipped cream for topping

Process flour and orange rind in a food processor until the rind has been thoroughly ground into the flour, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and salt and pulse on and off for a few seconds. Scatter butter slices over the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal, about 10 times. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and pulse on and off until the dough holds together.
Gather up the dough, knead it manually if necessary to smooth it out, and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill it for at leas an hour or up to 2 days.
Divide dough into 8-10 pieces. Scatter the pieces evenly in a well-greased 11-inch tart pan of a 9 1/2 " pie plate.
Gently pat the dough into place to make a 1/4-inch-thick crust, coming as far up the edges of the pan as you can.
Chill pan for 20 minutes while you heat the oven to 375.
Grease a 14-inch square piece of heavy aluminum foil. Gently fit the foil, greased side down, over the crust. Cover foil with pie weights, uncooked rice, or uncooked beans.
Place crust on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Carefully lift out the foil and pie weights and set aside.
Return crust to the oven and bake until golden and baked through, about 15-20 minutes longer. Take the crust out of the oven and reset the oven to 275.
Put cranberries, juices, sugar and salt into a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Lower heat to a simmer, partially cover and cook, stirring frequently until berries are soft, about 25 minutes. Force berries through a fine sieve or food mill to remove all skins and seeds.
Put the cranberry puree into a clean saucepan. Over low heat, stirring constantly, whisk in egg yolks. Continuing to stir constantly over low heat, cook the mixture until it is very thick, about 15 minutes. Then take it off the heat and whisk in the butter slices one at a time. Whisk in orange rind.
Pour the cranberry mixture into prepared crust.
Bake until set, about 20-30 minutes. Cool completely; then chill for at least 6 hours or up to one day. Serve with whipped cream.



I had a specific plate I wanted to serve this on, so I made it in my rectangular tart pan instead. This required some adjustments as noted below.
For the crust:
*1 c. flour
*2/3 TBSP. fresh-grated orange rind
*1 1/3 TBSP. sugar
*pinch of salt
*1/2 c. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4" slices
*2/3 large egg
*1/3 tsp. vanilla

For the filling:
*2 2/3 c. fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
*1/3 c. orange juice
*1 1/3 TBSP. lemon juice
*5/6 c. sugar
*pinch of salt
*4 large egg yolks
*1/3 c. unsalted butter; sliced into 8 pieces
*2/3 TBSP. fresh-grated orange rind

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