Cranberry Window Pie

Oh lovely Pie and Pastry Bible, how I love thee! You are my new favorite book. Here is what I found this week...

Cranberry Window Pie

Nothing but cranberries, orange zest, and sugar......yum. It screamed fall and made the kitchen smell wonderful!
Just as I was starting to bake, I looked outside to see this beautiful sunrise. The colors in the sky were so vibrant and I wanted to capture them. My friends and I had just been talking about cameras and my friend Renee gave me some advice.

Renee, you are a brilliant woman. Your idea of holding a hand over the flash while taking a picture works perfectly. I tried it this morning. Here is what it looked like outside my front door as I was beginning to bake. However, this is not what it really looked like.

This is what it really looked like outside. When I held my hand over the flash, it let in just the right amount of light.

Back inside, I had to cut the cranberries in half so that they would hold their shape while baking. They are a beautiful food. I've never used cranberries except for stringing them with popcorn for the Christmas tree. I'm now inspired to make cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.

And here is the window part of the Cranberry Window Pie! Hello beauties!

Annie joined me later and made her own pie.

I'm totally in love with this pie. It smelled heavenly, tasted tangy and tart, and looked like fall with it's red and orange colors.

Cranberry Window Pie:

double pie crust

3 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

1 1/4 cups sugar

zest of one orange

3 TBS light corn syrup

2 TBS freshly squeezed orange juice

milk for the top of the crust

sugar to sprinkle on the crust

Make the dough. Roll out the crust, transfer it to the pie pan. Trim excess to almost even with the edge of the pan. Cut each cranberry in half and place in a bowl. Mix the cranberries with 3/4 cup of the sugar, the orange zest, and 1 tablespoon of the corn syrup. Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Roll out the top crust. Place the top crust over the fruit. Tuck the overhang under the bottom crust border and press down all around the top to seal it. Crimp the border using a fork. With a sharp knife, cut a 3 inch plus sign in the center of the crust and pull back the pieces of dough to form a window. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Set an oven rack at the lowest level and place a baking sheet on it before preheating. Brush the crust with the milk and sprinkle with the sugar. Set the pie directly on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 375 degrees and continue baking for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons corn syrup, and the orange juice. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and simmer over low heat for 2 minutes. The liquid will reduce to half a cup. Pour the liquid into the center of the pie. Lower heat to 325 degrees and continue baking for 10-20 minutes.