One of my favorite parts about Christmas is getting a Harry and David gift box (from my husband’s boss). We really like all the candy. But what we like most are the pears. Typically, we make this Swedish Pear Pie with them. But this year, I decided to try something different, and I came up with this Pear Cranberry Almond Pie.
Now, if you know me, you know that pies and I do not get along. Pie crust is my culinary nemesis. But, OXO (my favorite kitchen tools company) sent me an awesome “pie package” (I’ll call it) with great tools that greatly increased my desire to make pies!
During the holidays, making things ahead of time is key. If you can have dessert ready to go and not have to worry about making it the day of, your life is so much easier.
I searched online to learn how to make and freeze pies, and then bake them at a later date. Everything I read said you had to make the pie in a metal pie plate. If you used a glass plate, it would crack or shatter because of the temperature difference between the freezer and the oven.
Not any more. OXO has developed this Glass 9″ Pie Plate that can go from freezer to oven, with no cracking or warping or detrimental effects whatsoever.
In addition to this pie plate, OXO also sent me their Double Pastry Wheel, 1″ Pastry Brush, and Steel Pie Server. I was pretty excited about this, because I have been wanting all three of these things for quite some time!
Now, let’s start making our pie.
First, I made two batches of pie dough and rolled them out. The first batch I put in the bottom of the thermal shock resistant pie plate. Then I used this great pastry wheel to cut decorative lattice strips from the second batch.
I mixed together pears, cranberries, slivered almonds and some sugar and corn starch and put it all in the pie plate.
Then I laid the lattice strips across the top.
At this point, I covered the whole thing with plastic wrap and stuck it in my freezer. If you plan to store a pie somewhat long-term (more than a few days) in the freezer, I suggest wrapping it tightly with plastic wrap, and then putting it inside a large Ziploc bag.
I let the pie stay in the freezer for two days. Then it was time to bake.
But first, I wanted to make the pie prettier. I brushed an egg wash over the top using the OXO pastry brush. I was uncommonly excited about this tool. I don’t know why I didn’t have one of these before. The only basting brushes I have are rubber with floppy bristles that don’t do the job well at all. But this OXO brush uses boar hair that holds its shape and does a marvelous job. Here’s what else I love about it: It has a bent head so that you can lay it down on the counter without the bristles touching. Observe:
Pretty swell, right? These little upgrades in kitchen tools make all the difference for me!
After brushing the lattice and edges of the pie, I sprinkled some Turbinado sugar over the top. This is totally optional, but I thought it would add a lovely visual effect.
Then came the moment of truth. Honestly, I wondered if the pie plate really would stay intact in the oven. Afterall, we were going straight from zero degrees to 425 degrees.
I put the pie on a cookie sheet and stuck it in my preheated oven. Then I waited and watched. After 20 minutes, I turned the oven down to 350 degrees and waited and watched some more.
I noticed that my edges were starting to brown, so I cut out some foil and put it over the pie.
Now, it is common practice for people to cover the edges of their pies with foil (apparently). However, I could never figure out how to do this! Do I take the pie out? Do I try to gingerly crimp some thin strips of foil around the edges, and somehow not burn myself? It turns out, there is an amazingly simple solution, which I discovered on The Food Charlatan.
You take a square piece of foil large enough to cover your pie, and fold it into quarters. Then cut a circular piece out of the middle, like this:
When you open it, voila. You have this:
I just gently laid this over the top of my pie and didn’t crimp the edges or anything. It worked perfectly!
And this is how the pie turned out.
Pretty darn spectacular, right? This is probably the prettiest pie I have ever made. And there was no cracking or any change to the glass pie plate whatsoever. It really worked!
On top of the pie is the OXO pie server. I have wanted one of these forever, too. What’s so great about the OXO one is that is has serrated edges at the bottom. You know how pieces of pie often stick together and you try to get them out, but have little luck? This pie server also doubles as a kind of knife so you can easily cut the pie pieces and separate them without obliterating the piece you are trying to remove.
Now let’s take a closer look at the pie, just to appreciate the texture and beauty.
Pie success, straight from the freezer to oven!
And yes, it tastes as good as it looks 🙂
- Two recipes for your favorite pie crust dough--one to go in the bottom of the pie plate and one to form the lattice on top.
- 4-6 ripe pears peeled, cored, and sliced (you should have about 6 cups of sliced pears)
- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 2 Tbsp. salted butter cut into small squares
- egg wash: 1 beaten egg with 1 Tbsp. milk
- Prepare the pie crust dough. Press one recipe into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" pie plate. Keep the other dough in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Mix the sliced pears, cranberries, slivered almonds, sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon together.
- Pour into your pie plate atop your pie crust.
- Drop the small squares of butter randomly atop your filling.
- Remove other recipe of pie crust dough from the fridge. Roll out onto a floured surface. Using a pastry wheel, cut into 1" strips.
- Arrange the lattice on the pie, weaving the strips over and under each other, folding the strips back as necessary to place other strips underneath.
- Crimp the edges of the crust, making sure that the lattice pieces are crimped well with the dough in the pie plate.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the top with your egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar if desired.
- If freezing, cover tightly with plastic wrap and put inside a large Ziploc bag.
- To bake the pie straight from the freezer, remove all plastic wrap and put the pie on top of a cookie sheet.
- Place inside an oven preheated to 425 degrees.
- Bake for 20 minutes, and then turn down your oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake for another 60-70 minutes, covering the edges with foil or a pie shield as necessary to keep the edges from browning.
- Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for at least three hours.
- If baking this pie fresh (without freezing), place on a cookie sheet and put in a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and bake for another 30-35 minutes, covering the edges as needed.
- Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for at least three hours.
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