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The Best Elegant & Show-Stopping Cranberry Pie

A beautiful slice of homemade Cranberry Chiffon Pie being served as dessert at a festive holiday dinner.

An elegant and festive cranberry pie featuring a unique, pink-hued crust and a light, airy chiffon filling. The from-scratch pie crust is made with finely ground dehydrated cranberries, butter, and a touch of vodka for extra flakiness. The crust is blind-baked until golden and crisp. The no-bake filling is a mousse-like mixture made by cooking down fresh cranberries into a puree, which is then stabilized with gelatin and folded into a homemade sweetened whipped cream. The pie is chilled until set and can be decorated with beautiful sugared cranberries.

Ingredients

Scale
  • For the Crust:
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup finely ground dehydrated unsweetened cranberries
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) very cold butter, cut into cubes
  • 5 tablespoons very cold vodka
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • For the Filling:
  • 1/4 cup triple sec
  • 1 teaspoon unflavored powdered gelatin
  • 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 cup very cold heavy cream
  • For the Decorations:
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • Orange peel, cut into thin strips
  • Sweetened whipped cream, for serving

Instructions

  1. Make the Crust: In a food processor, pulse the flour, ground cranberries, sugar, and salt. Add the cold butter and pulse until pea-sized pieces form. Add 3 tablespoons of a vodka-vinegar mixture and pulse until the dough comes together, adding more liquid if needed. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  2. Roll the chilled dough into a round and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Crimp the edges and refrigerate for another hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Line with parchment paper, fill with pie weights, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment and bake for another 25-30 minutes, until golden. Cool completely.
  4. Make the Filling: In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tablespoons of triple sec to bloom.
  5. In a saucepan, cook the cranberries, orange zest and juice, ginger, 1/2 cup sugar, and remaining 2 tablespoons of triple sec for about 10 minutes, until the cranberries pop.
  6. Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin mixture until dissolved. Transfer to a blender, let cool slightly, then puree until very smooth. Pour into a large bowl and let cool to room temperature.
  7. In a stand mixer, whip the heavy cream and the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar to stiff peaks.
  8. Stir one-third of the whipped cream into the cooled cranberry mixture to lighten it. Then, gently fold the cranberry mixture into the remaining whipped cream until no streaks remain.
  9. Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to overnight, until set.
  10. Decorate and Serve: Before serving, make sugared cranberries by tossing fresh cranberries in a lightly beaten egg white, then in sugar, and letting them dry.
  11. Top the pie with whipped cream, the sugared cranberries, and orange peel strips.

Notes

  • This pie requires multiple chilling steps for the dough and the final filling, so it’s a great make-ahead dessert.
  • Using vodka in the pie crust is a technique that helps to create an extra-tender and flaky result.
  • Blooming the gelatin before adding it to the hot cranberry mixture is a crucial step to ensure it dissolves properly.
  • The article references a ‘Cook’s Note’ for the flour that is not provided in the text.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.eatswithsoul.com/stopping-cranberry-pie-recipe/