Cranberry Raisin Strawberry Pie

Hey look everybody-mama cleaned out the freezer!

I figured it was time to use some of my cranberry stash. I had a few strawberries left from making jam yesterday, so I tossed those in as well. The raisins well...I don't know, everyone seems to expect raisins in their fruit pies around here. Really, apple, peach, cherry-everyone wants raisins in it. Since I won't be eating it, I decided to just let people have the pie they want, rather than the pie I think they should have. I view this more as a sign of defeat than maturity. They're crazy for mincemeat as well-what can I do?

I adapted a couple of old recipes from Food and Wine back in 1992 (which doesn't seem all that long ago, really). I'll warn you, the crust was very difficult to work with, even well chilled. I think I prefer my own pastry recipe, but I'll post the one I used in case you're feeling adventuresome. I did swap out vegetable shortening for the lard, but i don't think that would have changed the texture at the rolling stage much. It really is a delicate dough to work with, so be warned.

For the pie filling I used more raisins, omitted the nuts, and increased the flour. I also added strawberries. It came up lovely. If you like a runnier pie, decrease the flour (the recipe called for 1/4 cup and I used 1/2).

It took a very long time to bake, and I had to cover the top lightly with foil for the last twenty minutes, but otherwise it was a simple enough pie to make.


For the pastry:

1 3/4 cup AP flour
1 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter cut into fine pieces
2 tablespoons cold shortening, cut small
(about) 3 tablespoons ice water

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut in the butter and shortening until fine. Add water a tablespoon at a time and quickly gather together in a ball. Do not overwork. Divide in 2 parts. Roll each into a disk and wrap in cling film. Chill at least one hour until cold.

For the filling:

12 ounces cranberries (fresh or frozen) chopped coarsely
1 cup raisins
A handful of strawberries, hulled and cut in half
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup AP flour

Glaze-1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Fit bottom crust into pie plate. Brush lightly with egg white. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour/sugar mixture in the bottom. In another bowl, combine cranberries, orange zest, melted butter, raisins and vanilla extract. Mix well. Pour into pie plate. Cover with remaining flour/sugar mixture. Place top crust on. If not doing lattice crust, cut slits to vent. Brush with egg wash. Place pie plate on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour or until top is browned and filling bubbles up through vents. Cool before cutting.