So Many Dishes

Happy Christmas Eve! A busy day is underway. I need to take some time to practice the song I’m singing at our candlelight church service this evening, but otherwise, it’s mostly cooking and baking. Unfortunately, we have a fly in the ointment: we woke up to discover that our air conditioner is leaking— water stains on the ceiling by the intake and a wet rug on the floor underneath. Fortunately, our service company is able to send a technician this morning. I just got a message that he’s on his way.

When he gets here, he’s going to be met by the smell of the apple-cranberry pie that just came out of the oven. I bake other pies, but this is the one known as the pie 😄 It has become Christmas morning breakfast tradition. Personally, I think we should eat pie for breakfast more often!

I first made this pie in 2003, when I saw it on a PBS cooking show. The original version had a pecan crumble topping that I wasn’t crazy about. It was dry and didn’t seem to add anything to the overall flavor. So I started substituting the crumb topping I use on my peach pie, and we preferred it that way. It’s a recipe I have from my mother, written on a slip of paper that has a tendency to disappear and reappear. You would think that I could make it from memory at this point, but no such luck. Or that I would make a copy and file it carefully….

Apple-Cranberry Pie with Crumb Topping

For the pie:

• 1 unbaked pie crust
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 4 1/2 cups apples, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 cup cranberries

For the topping:

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

Mix together brown sugar, salt, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter. Add apples and cranberries and mix thoroughly. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust.

For the topping, mix all ingredients together with a pastry blender until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle over pie filling.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees, and bake for an additional 40 minutes. If the crumbs turn brown before the pie is done, cover with a piece of foil and continue baking (I’ve never needed to do this).

Happy eating!