⅓cuporange brandy or liqueursuch as Grand Marnier or Cointreau
4-5medium applespeeled, cored, and sliced (about 5 cups)
juice of half a lemon1-2 tbsp
½cupchopped pecans
1tablespoonflour
1teaspooncinnamon
½teaspoonground cardamom
1tablespoonbutter
Egg wash & glaze
1egg yolk
2tablespooncold water
1tablespooncoarse sugar
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt.
Using a pastry cutter, blend cold butter into flour until butter is in pea-sized chunks
Add ice water
Stir quickly until dough pulls together enough to form a ball, using your hands if necessary, and adding more ice water if needed
Shape dough into a log and divide into two even pieces
Shape the dough pieces into rounded discs, and wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap.
Chill in the fridge for an hour.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together cranberries, sugar, and orange brandy.
Bring to a boil, and lower heat to a simmer, allowing to cook and thicken, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
In a bowl, combine apple slices, pecans, flour, cinnamon, and cardamom.
In a small bowl whisk egg yolk and cold water together
Preheat oven to 400°
Remove one pie dough from fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll the disc quickly, working from the inside out, to form a circle about 2 inches larger than the pie pan, flipping over every few rolls, to keep dough from sticking.
Drape the dough over the pie pan and press into the pan lightly
With a sharp knife, or kitchen scissors, trim the excess dough around the pan to about a one inch overhang.
With your thumb, or a fork, press dough onto the rim of the pan, and roll the excess under to form a neat ridge.
Fill the pie with the apple & nut mixture, spreading evenly, then pour the cranberry mixture evenly over the apples.
Take the other disc of dough out of the fridge, and roll out, as above. Place evenly over pie, and crimp edges together on the rim with your thumb, or use a fork.
Trim away excess dough with a sharp knife or scissors, and roll under.
With a sharp knife, cut slits in top pie crust for steam to escape
Brush top of pie with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake in center of oven about 20 minutes, until you see the top beginning to brown.
Cover pie with a sheet of foil, and reduce oven temperature to 350. Bake 15 minutes, then remove foil.
Bake a further 15 minutes, until crust is a deep, even golden colour, and the filling is bubbling.
Allow pie to cool for about an hour to allow it to set before slicing.
Notes
After your pastry dough is mixed, you should be able to see chunks of butter. It's important to work quickly so that those chunks of butter don't melt.When it's time to assemble your pie, leave the dough in the fridge until everything else is ready and the oven is pre-heated.A tip: While the dough is chilling, put your pie pan and rolling pin in the fridge too, until ready to use.