Recipe: Cranberry One-Crust Lattice Pie

Cranberry One-Crust Lattice Pie
From the American Institute for Cancer Research

Pies can be a healthful choice on the groaning board of holiday desserts when they contain ample servings of fresh or dried fruits, or vegetables like pumpkin and sweet potatoes. Healthwise, the pie's worst aspect - a rich crust - simply needs to be streamlined.

This is easy to do without giving up a good crust. Here are simple ways I slim down holiday pies while still using my favorite, old-fashioned, flaky pie crust recipe.

For an apple pie, or any fruit combination like cranberry and raisin, the first thing I do is eliminate the bottom crust. This immediately halves the least healthful part of a pie. It also reduces the work of making double-crusted pies, and the eternal headache of a soggy bottom crust.

Instead, I use a deep-dish pie plate and heap in the fruit. For an apple pie, I easily use 10 cups of sliced apples. With such an abundance of fruit, and a golden top crust, no one even misses what might have been underneath.

After years of experimenting, I've concluded that reducing the amount of fat in a crust only makes it hard and cardboard-tasting. Instead of "fixing" a good crust, I now work on using less of it.

For most fruit pies, making a lattice top accomplishes this. Some cooks also use a cookie cutter to make leaf-like shapes that are scattered over the pie in lieu of a solid crust. This technique works best for pumpkin and sweet potato pies, which produce no bubbling juices to swamp these islands of crust. Both types of crust look so picture-pretty no one thinks my motive was cheating on the amount of pastry used. Try this spiced apple and cranberry pie and see for yourself.

Cranberry One-Crust Lattice Pie

1 (12-ounce) bag cranberries, fresh or frozen
3 medium Fuji or Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and chopped (1 1/4 pounds, about 5 cups)
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped candied or preserved ginger
2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/3 cup apple cider or frozen apple juice concentrate
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 tsp. cornstarch
1 (9-inch) pie crust, rolled out
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup sugar

Combine cranberries, apple, raisins, ginger, sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a deep saucepan with tight-fitting lid. Add 1/4 cup of cider. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and cook until cranberries pop and mixture is moist and bubbling, about 5 minutes. Stir well, cover and cook until cranberries are soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Mix in walnuts.

Combine cornstarch with remaining cider in a cup. Mix into hot filling and cook until thickened, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Turn filling into a 9-inch pie plate, spreading it evenly. Let sit until filling is just warm, about 30 minutes. Filling can be made ahead, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If filling has been chilled, bring it to room temperature.

Cut pie crust into at least 12 1/2-inch strips. Space 6 strips evenly over top of pie. Place 6 more strips at right angles, weaving them through to make a lattice. Trim away over-hanging crust from edges. Use remaining crust to make a border along rim of pie plate, crimping it nicely. Brush crust with beaten egg. Sprinkle sugar on lattice crust, including edges.

Set pie on a baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. If rim of crust has started to brown, cover with strips of foil. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until lattice is golden.

Remove pie and let sit 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 8 servings, each containing 353 calories and 9 grams of fat.