Cranberry Ginger Pear Apple Pie

I made my first pie five years ago today.  I had been watching Pushing Daisies and was hungry for pie.  We had received a fruit basket from my in-laws for Christmas and some of the pears were about to go bad, so I decided to make a pie.  I had no idea what I was doing.  I mixed some flour, butter, sugar, and maybe an egg together and made something of a crust-like consistency that I then pressed into an eight inch cake pan.  The filling was pears, apples, dried cranberries, brown sugar, and ginger ale.

Today, I used actual pie making techniques and revisited the ingredients of the original pie.

Ingredients:

3 Granny Smith apples

3 red pears

8 oz of fresh cranberries

5 tablespoons of Pie Filling Enhancer

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger

Directions:
Peel and slice the apples and pears.
Toss them in the two tablespoons of sugar.
Pulse the cranberries, 1/4 cup of sugar, and ginger in a food processor five times.
Combine the cranberry mixture, the apple-pear mixture and the Pie Filling Enhancer.
Pour into a crust.
Place a lattice crust on top.
Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 20 minutes at 425oF, rotate, reduce the temperature to 375oF and bake for another 30 minutes.
Allow to cool.

The original pie was more like fruit soup in a bread bowl as opposed to a pie.  My equipment has also improved.  I how have a Fruit & Vegetable Peeler, Corer & Slicer.  Instead of a cake pan that came in a bakeware set from Walmart, I have a handcrafted French pie dish from Emile Henry.  And I actually own trivets, instead of setting the pie on a pot holder to cool.

The new pie is really good.  The cranberries and ginger add a little bit of punch to flavor.  There is a bit of a crispness left to the apples and pears that add a variety to the texture.  There is nothing wrong with this pie.  I will probably make it again next year to celebrate the anniversary, but there is nothing outstanding about this pie that would make me want to make it all year round.

Piece out!

Justin