Cranberry Ginger Crumb Pie
MAKES
One 8 ½ inch / 22 cm skillet pie
TAKES
Prep time: 3 hours (includes chilling and cooling times)
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total: 4 hours 30 minutes
✻ ABOUT THIS RECIPE
Cranberries are underappreciated as a pie fruit (think of them as the sour cherries of the fall and winter!). Cranberries are naturally high in pectin, and can reliably produce a sliceable pie without any added thickener like cornstarch or tapioca. In this recipe, this foolproof filling is combined with the ease of baking in a cast iron skillet, which easily ensures a crisp bottom crust (no soggy bottoms in sight)! The filling is flavored with fresh orange juice, and plenty of ginger, and crumb topping doubles up by adding tiny bits of candied ginger inside - the combination makes this pie incredibly fragrant and special.
INGREDIENTS
one recipe Extra Flaky All Buttah Pie Dough, prepared and well-chilled
Cranberry Filling
1136 g / 2 ½ pounds cranberries (fresh or frozen, no need to thaw)
173 g / ¾ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
198 g / 1 cup granulated sugar
141 g / ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
3 g / 1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 g / ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 g / ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Ginger Crumb Topping
60 g / ½ cup all-purpose flour
40 g / ½ cup old-fashioned oats
15 g / 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
53 g / ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
zest of 1 orange
3 g / 1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 g / ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 g / ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
85 g / 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch / 1 cm cubes
92 g / ½ cup finely chopped candied ginger
Bake This Recipe with Me:
METHOD
1. Line the skillet: on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a circle about 1/4 inch / 6 mm thick. To transfer the dough to the skillet, gently roll it up, wrapping it around the rolling pin, then unfurl it into an 8 ½ inch / 22 cm.
2. Use scissors to trim away the excess dough, leaving about ½ inch / 1 cm excess all the way around the outside edge of the skillet. Tuck this excess dough under, pressing gently to make it flush with the edge of the skillet. Crimp the crust as desired (or, leave it as is).
3. Par-bake the crust: dock the crimped single crust pie dough with a fork and chill well, at least 30 minutes, preferably 1 hour.
4. Towards the end of chill time, preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C with an oven rack in the lower third of the oven.
5. Cut a square of parchment paper slightly larger than the diameter of a skillet, crumple it up, then place it into the base of the skillet, on top of the crust. Fill with pie weights to the top inner rim of the pie plate.
6. Bake until the edges begin to lightly brown, 15-17 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and pie weights, and return to the oven until the lower portion of the crust appears dry and set, 2-3 minutes more. Cool completely before filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F / 190°C.
7. Make the cranberry filling: in a medium pot, mix the cranberries, orange juice, granulated sugar, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and salt to combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries begin to soften or break down, 12 to 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture has thickened, 6 to 8 minutes; some of the berries will break down and become jammy, some will be whole or in chunky pieces. Cool completely - to speed this up, pour it onto a baking sheet and spread into an even layer.
8. While the filling cools, make the streusel topping. In a medium bowl, stir the oats, all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, orange zest, ginger, cinnamon, and salt to combine. Drop in the butter and mix with your hands or a pastry cutter until the mixture forms large clumps. Add the candied ginger, and toss well to evenly incorporate throughout the streusel.
9. Spoon the cooled filling into the pie crust, and spread into an even layer. Crumble the streusel over the top of the cranberry filling, forming an even layer (it’s ok if some of the filling is visible!)
10. Bake the pie: transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the crust and streusel are deeply golden brown, 40-45 minutes. Cool completely before slicing and serving.
NOTE
To learn more about par-baking - check out this video!
✻ HAVE YOU BAKED IT?
Tag @emcdowell on Instagram or use #happybaking. I’d love to see your bakes!
