Must... continue... to bake...

[madbaker]

This week's Resolution Recipe: Cranberry-Apricot Streusel Pie.

one 9" pie crust

Cheese filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 large egg

Fruit filling:
4 ounces cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2/3 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp unsalted butter

Streusel topping:
1/3 cup white or wheat flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp unsalted butter

Heat oven to 375. Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, salt, and egg until mostly smooth. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, combine fruit, lemon juice, sater, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer until the liquid is mostly absorbed, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and almond extract, salt and butter.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, oats, nuts, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and baking powder. Stir in the vanilla. Cut the butter into small cubes and work into dry ingredients until it forms an even crumb.

Spoon cheese filling into the bottom of the pie crust. Spread the fruit on top. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the fruit. Bake for 45 minutes, until bubbly and the streusel is golden brown. Cool for 1 hour before serving.

What worked: I liked the flavor immensely. The cranberries weren't too sour, even though I cut the sugar down a bit. The cheese set off the fruit well. Showy. Actors liked it, although that's not much of a yardstick.

What didn't: roswtr pointed out that the crust was tough. The original crust was a serious pain involving orange juice, ice cubes, baking powder, and more; I made a standard butter/flour crust. I'm not sure if that led to the tougher crust, or if it's because I had to bake it 10 minutes longer, or if it's because I forgot what day it was and made this Friday evening instead of Saturday night for Sunday. The rest of the recipe was enough of a pain - I didn't want to add to its complexity with a new pie crust. More experimenting is clearly called for.

Will I make this again? You bet.

Comments

[roswtr.livejournal.com]

Yup, it was marvelous. I don't know much from crusts -- I'm only learning how to make them, and I certainly haven't got them figured out yet. Although I'm thinking with my icy fingers, I should be the Pie Crust Diva!

[maestrateresa.livejournal.com]

It was yummy yummy yummy!

Piecrust was fine...I sort of liked the "crunch" of it. (and, according to my sister, my piecrust is the only stuff worth eating, so I guess I know my piecrust. Must be the cold fingers and dry skin! ;-)

[ornerie.livejournal.com]

looks like a great way to use leftover cranberry ginger relish!

what if one was to do it just as a cheesecake thing? ie on a graham cracker crust? is the filling stiff enough to hold up to that?

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Not sure -- before baking it was fairly blorpy. I've never had luck with graham cracker crusts, though.

[ornerie.livejournal.com]

hrm. bears experimenting with. oh darn!!

blorpy :)? I thought I was the only one who used that word?

[ornerie.livejournal.com]

'm envinsioning a crust not unlike the streusal topping. nutty, brownsugar, crunchy, crumbly but cohesive enough to cut as a slice.

like the bottom of a mazurka bar.

[roswtr.livejournal.com]

I think it would stand up to a graham cracker crust quite well -- it might have been blorpy going into the oven, but it had a wonderful firm texture when it was served. Not liquid or unstable at all.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Blorpy is a technical term, like describing my sourdough starter as shloopy. Of course other people use it!

[ornerie.livejournal.com]

hee :)

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

This was good, although thinking back on it, I think roswtr was right about the crust. But everything tasted good! (I was not in a state to try to critique anyone else's cooking ... <g>)

[aastg.livejournal.com]

I didn't try the crust on account of the fat content, but I thought the filling was excellent - a perfect balance of flavors. I was sorry I couldn't have more!

Also, I choose to assume that you did not mean me in your remark above about actors and yardsticks: first, because you've seen me act; secondly, because I know for a fact that actors make crappy yardsticks, what with all the giggling and squirming. Alice had better luck playing croquet with a flamingo...

It makes measuring difficult

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Using Bonefinder as an example: if you give him an inch onstage, he takes at least a foot.