"Festive" Cranberry Pie - Week #8

You may be thinking that the above title could show up here, but believe me, the festiveness of cranberry pie is no sure thing.  So, "festive" just might be appropriate in this instance.

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, we were pretty sick last weekend.  Although I managed to make the cranberry pie, I not only didn't write anything about it until now, but I didn't even taste it until Wednesday evening.  That's my excuse for the delay, and will be re-used to explain the likely brevity here.

I'm going to start at the end and tell you, as I intimated in the opening paragraph, that this just wasn't a very good pie.  I made only one error that seems consequential in making it, and I really don't think that it turned out poorly.  My take, as well as my lead taster's, is that cranberry simply isn't a great base flavor for a pie.  It is such a domineering flavor that I really think it would have to be cut significantly with some other flavor or flavors to make a great pie.  Unfortunately, I made a straight-up cranberry pie recipe I found, that didn't do much to mask the cranberry or accentuate it with any other tastes.  Ah, well.  Each week can't produce an all-time favorite.  Actually, I suppose that it could, but it'd strain credulity were it to occur.  I'm all about healthy, happy credulities at 52pies, so no straining here. 

The Crust

I have not received quite the pile of complementary comments and emails that was expected for the pie crust blog entry from Wednesday night.  Truthfully, by the time I was finished with that one I was exhausted with the topic and pretty sure that it was virtually unreadable and indecipherable.  My defense is that I still needed to post it if for no other reason that to bring myself some closure around the whole issue and allow me to move on with my life.  How's that for psycho-babble?  For those that read/skimmed it, thanks for taking the time.  For those who hated it, I hope you enjoy entries such as these more.  Be assured that I have no intentions for any more technical posts.

I did use a slight variation on the recommended America's Test Kitchen crust recipe.  I varied it by:

• Substituting 1 cup of cake flour for a cup of all-purpose.  The truly dedicated and courageous reader of this blog will know why.
  
• Using only the 1/4 cup of vodka for liquid.  My last crust was hard to roll out because it got so sticky, so I wanted to try reducing the total amount of liquid.  This was better, but I'm going to continue experimenting.
  

Here's a picture of the crust once rolled out and placed in the pie plate.  In particular, note the seeming discolorations in the dough.  Those are different pieces of fat (butter and shortening) that were not fully incorporated into the dough.  That seemed really weird to me, especially the first time around, but given the flakiness of the crust, I'm convinced that it is an appropriate way for the rolled out crust to appear.

The Filling

There were really no complications in making the filling.  I hadn't ever cooked cranberries before, so the way that the skins would pop and the berries (are they actually berries? I feel another 3 week research project coming on...) themselves would break down as they were cooked was a bit of a surprise.  

The only mistake that I know I made in making the filling was that I forgot to add the teaspoon of vanilla when the cooking was done.  It is possible that this would have reduced some of the bitterness of the finished pie, I don't really know.  But, even if it had, I still doubt it would have been a delightful pie to consume.  Also, I had thought that perhaps the raisins would add a nice flavor (and color, I did use the golden raisins), but they didn't really do much for the flavor if you ask me.  They added a nice textural component, though.

The Lattice

How hard can a lattice crust be, right?  That wasn't my real thought at all.  I figured that it would be pretty challenging, and for no good reason (a recurring theme throughout my life) I decided that I would attempt to put together the lattice top without reading up on how to do it.  I actually think that I would have done okay, if it weren't for an intervening factor that ruined my big plans.

I failed to consider that the filling I was putting into the pie shell was quite warm.  As a result, when I started putting my strips for the lattice on they got warm very quickly too, lost most of their strength and started to fall apart.  The final result is that I had to give in and not weave the lattice but fake it by just crossing the crust strips all the way over the top or bottom.  You can see what I mean below.  So, that was an interesting learning opportunity.  The next one will be better for the experience.

After giving it a good college try, I did go out and look for lattice methods.  Most seem to construct the lattice on the pie, which I don't think would have worked well in this case no matter what.  Others construct the lattice separately and then put it on the top as a single completed piece.  Next time, I'd do it that way, although if the filling weren't hot, I'd probably lean toward the former method.

Here's a picture of the finished, baked pie.  You can see that most of the lattice doesn't really weave, but the vertical is just laying on top of the horizontal.  I don't think it matters a great deal, but it just isn't as pretty.  And, anyone who knows me knows that I'm all about the pretty.

Here's a cut piece.  The filling set up well, the crust cut nicely and it kept its shape really well.

That is it for the cranberry pie.  I won't be making this one again any time soon.  

Christmas Public Service Message

Finally, I know that at this time of year some people are stressing out over what to give that special someone.  Have no fear!  If you really want to get your man the perfect gift, look no further than right here.  Trust me, it is exactly what he wants.