I made this pie. It’s the perfect Thankgiving Day pie. Abundant. American. Cranberry goodness oozing out the steam vents. Isn’t it gorgeous? I mean, I’m so proud of it. I’m not trying to be cute here, it’s just that I don’t make pies that often, and there’s a good reason for this. I don’t have the pastry chef mentality for details and tweaking and making perfect shapes. My doughs don’t roll out thin and cooperative.  That’s why I usually make gallettes if I want a fruit-pie-type dessert. But this time I took it on. I saw a picture of it in this year’s Martha Stewart Living Thankgiving issue and it called out to me, challenging, “make me if you dare!” And I said, “oh yeah?” and then the pie said,”Betcha can’t make one that looks just like this picture!” and I said,well, enough of me and my conversation with an image in a magazine. Let’s just say I took it on.

I made two batches of the buttery pate brissée, which mean “breaking dough” in french. The dough is so buttery that it tends to break apart on you when you roll it out, or try and pick it up. This is why I usually roll the dough out between sheets of parchment paper dusted with flour. This method gives me better control over it when I need to rotate it for rolling, flip it or move it to the pie dish. The apples and craberries go in raw, with a mixture of flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt and I tweaked Martha’s recipe by adding maple syrup for a more complex sweetness and to further offset the tartness of the cranberries. You could add your own flare of flavor here if you like cloves, or ginger or allspice in your apple pie, a little calvados brandy might be in my next try at this, all of which would work very nicely, I think.

I closed up the pie, already impressed with myself by this point, I can tell you that. I ask myself, “is this my pretty pie? Is this my cluttered kitchen? Am I in a bakery or what??” Forgive me. Cooking makes me giddy sometimes. Especially when things work out well.

Right now I’m thinking, “Yo, pie in the magazine. Yeah you! Take a look at your twin! That’s right! You heard me. Or maybe it’s your clone it’s so identical!” But I don’t have time for this petty pie baiting. There is some deliciousness to dole out. I hardly want to touch it. I want to shellac it and put it on my window sill on display like the old school chinese restaurants used to do with their specialties of the house.

But it had to be eaten and shared to live out it’s full destiny, don’t you think? And I have to say, this pie is just as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside.

Maple Apple Cranberry Double Stuffed Pie
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS

For Crust:

Make this recipe twice, to get two discs of dough, one for the top and one for the bottom crust Don’t double it and make at once, it won’t fit right in the bowl of the mixer or processor and it won’t come out right. You’ll end up with more dough than you need but you can always freeze the extra small disc you have leftover for another single crust pie or tart.

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sticks, plus 2 tablespoons very cold butter cut into ½ inch cubes
¼ to ½ cup ice water

Equipment needed: food processor or stand mixer with paddle attachment, deep dish pie pan

PROCEDURE

1. Pulse flour, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Drizzle 1/4 cup ice water evenly over mixture. Pulse until mixture holds together when pressed between 2 fingers (dough should not be wet or sticky). If dough is too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse.

2. Shape dough into 1 large disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes, then allow it to soften up a bit at room temperature, 5 minutes before rolling out.

3. I find that sprinkling the dough with some added flour, then placing the dough between two large sheets of floured parchment, it the best way to roll it out and keep it from sticking to your surface. The parchment also allows you to pick it up and easily transfer it to your baking dish.

For The Filling:

INGREDIENTS

5 pounds baking apples (ask your produce dept. what apples work best for baking)
1 1/2 cups fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons heavy cream, for egg wash
2 tablespoons raw or turbinado sugar (larger granules) for decorating

PROCEDURE

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make the crusts: Roll out a pate brisee disk to a 1/8-inch thickness on a floured surface or between two sheets of parchment or wax paper. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Repeat rolling with large pate brisee disk, and cut out a 12-inch circle; transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate crusts until firm, about 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make the filling: Peel and core apples. Cut each into 1/2- to 1-inch-thick wedges, (cutting apples in quarters, then cutting each quarter in half, and then each eighth in half again) and transfer to a bowl. Toss in cranberries, granulated sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, maple syrup and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

3. Transfer filling to bottom crust; dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Fold edges under; crimp. Cut eight 2 1/2-inch vents into dough to let steam escape. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

4. Gently brush top crust with egg wash; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake pie set on a rimmed baking sheet for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake until crust is golden and juices are bubbling, 1 hour 20 minutes more. (Tent with foil if crust is browning too quickly.) Let pie cool completely in plate set on a wire rack.  Storage: Pie can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.