Lattice-Top Apple-Cranberry Pie

Serves: Makes 1 (9-inch) pie

Ingredients:

• Cranberry filling:
• 1½ cups chopped cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon grated orange zest
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup orange or cranberry juice

• All-purpose flour, for dusting work surface
• 2 recipes Perfect Pie Crust

• Apple filling:
• 3 large, tart apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼-inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoon (½ ounce) cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Procedures:

A lattice top always raises a double crust pie to another level. One trick is to work out your lattice on a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and then slide it into place on top of your filling. You can also freeze the lattice tops like this so you can defrost and slide onto another pie at a later date. 

Preheat an oven to 400°F and position a rack in the center of the oven. 

For the cranberry filling: In a medium saucepan, cook the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, flour and juice over medium heat until the mixture simmers and is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. 

To prepare pie: Lightly flour a work surface and draw a 12-inch circle in the flour. This guide will be the perfect size for a standard 9-inch pie dish. Place 1 recipe of pie crust in the center of the circle and dust a little flour on top. Using the circle as a guide, roll out the dough into a 12-inch round about ⅛-inch thick. Loosely roll the dough around the rolling pin, center the pin over a 9-inch pie dish, and carefully unroll the round over the dish, easing it into the bottom and sides and allowing the excess to overhang. Trim the dough so that it overhangs by 1-inch. Freeze for 15 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

To prepare lattice: Lightly flour a work surface and draw a 14-inch by 12-inch rectangle in the flour. This guide will be the perfect size for the lattice strips. Firmly shape the remaining 1 recipe of pastry dough into a small rectangle and roll out to a 14-inch by 12-inch rectangle about ⅛-inch thick. Use a pastry wheel, pizza cutter or kitchen knife to cut the dough into fourteen 1-inch wide strips. If the strips of dough are warm and difficult to move, chill them on a baking sheet for 10 minutes. 

To assemble the pie: Place the apples on top of the dough in pie plate, then dot with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon. Pour the cooled cranberry mixture over the apples. 

Lay 7 of the lattice strips, evenly spaced, horizontally across the apples. Working from the right side, fold back every other strip (4 strips in total) so that they are doubled back on themselves. Lay a vertical strip of dough next to this new fold. The new strip should be parallel to and ½-inch from the first vertical strip. Repeat twice more, until half of the pie has been latticed. Turn the pie so that un-latticed side faces you and continue weaving in the same manner until all the strips have been used. With a pair of kitchen scissors, trim any lattice ends even with the overhanging bottom crust. Fold the overhang under and crimp or form a decorative border. Refrigerate the pie for 30 minutes, but no longer than 1 hour. 

To bake pie: In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk, then use a pastry brush to lightly glaze the lattice and outside edge of the pie crust. Sprinkle the top with sugar. Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the crust is golden-brown and the fruit is bubbling and tender (test with the tip of a paring knife). Transfer to a cooling rack and allow the pie to cool for 40 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Recipe developed for Sur La Table’s Cooking Classes