Pear Cranberry Pie

This was my first pie ever. It was a success! It is not too sweet and not too tart. I bought the cranberries fresh and save them in the freezer for a week. The color of baked cranberry juice is an scarlet red, really worth to see! As I have no experience making pies, I trusted the experts, I bought the crust. If you know how to make a good crust go ahead. I added the ingredients the makers used for their crust in here though I don't know the proportions.

Ingredients

1 nine inch piecrust (frozen from Simple Soy Man™ or your own)

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 teaspoon vanilla (or ~4 drops) I used 1/3 of an organic vanilla bean, cut up.

1/2 teaspoon ground clover and nutmeg mix or 1/3 teaspoon of All Spice

2 firm ripe pears peeled and sliced

1/2 Lb frozen cranberries

10 whole cranberries

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 stick cold butter, cut in pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. I used a whole grain pie crust, from the simple Soyman. I let it thaw from frozen for about 10 minutes. I didn't know whether I needed to pre-bake it or not. It seems that both options are possible but I didn't pre-bake it.

2. Grate 1/2Lb of frozen cranberries in a blender.

3. Peel two pears then cut into four pieces, then thinly slice. Be sure to remove seeds.

4. Mix the brown sugar, cornstarch, and spices in a bowl. Add all the grated cranberries. Add the pear slices and toss with the mix until covered. Keep some spices for the crust. Layer the slices inside the piecrust. The two pears will provide about two layers. Place the whole cranberries on top of the pear layers.

5. Prepare the topping by mixing the ½ cup flour with the ¼ cup of light brown sugar. Add the maple syrup and sprinkle in spice mix and cinnamon. Add vanilla to taste. Cut a cold and firm 1/2 stick of butter into small cubes. Mix the sugar-spices mix and butter until crumbly. Distribute the topping evenly over the pear-cranberry layers.

6. Bake at 350ºF for 1 hour or until the crust is golden.

Don't miss the boiling cranberry juice! It's a fun thing to watch. I described it as the living heart of my cranberry pie. It was passionate- it was alive! This pie turned out beautiful and delicious [pictures coming soon]. The filling is not very sweet because I do like the tart flavor of cranberries. If you prefer sweets you would need to add more sugar. Good luck!