LEFTOVER CRANBERRY SAUCE SLAB PIE
SERVES 12-20
Every year, I go a little crazy making cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. It’s so pretty—a glorious ruby red—and tart and sweet and seasonal and my enthusiasm leaves me with cranberry sauce languishing in the refrigerator long after the last bite of turkey has been consumed. Meet the pie that solves my problem. Based on fregolotta, a classic Italian jam tart, this slab pie is quick to put together, even if Thanksgiving cooking has been going on long enough.
Make Ahead: Make the cranberry sauce up to 1 month ahead and freeze.
SHORT BREAD CRUST
- 12 tablespoons (170 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (130 g) granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
FILLING
- 1-1/2 cups (440 g) cranberry sauce, preferably whole fruit
- 1-1/2 cups (340 g) raspberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (50 g) sliced almonds
DIRECTIONS
For the crust: Heat the oven to 350°F; if you have one, place a baking stone, Baking Steel, or inverted baking sheet on the center rack to heat.
Using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or strong wooden spoon, beat the butter and sugar together until lightened and fluffy. Add the eggs yolks one at a time and beat until fully incorporated. Mix in the extract. Add the flour and salt and mix on a low speed until a crumbly dough is formed. Divide the dough into two portions, one twice as large as the other. Wrap the smaller portion in plastic wrap and chill while assembling the rest of the pie.
Turn out the larger portion of the dough into the slab pie pan and, pinching off walnut-sized pieces, press the crust into the sides, corners, and edges and across the bottom of the pan. Use your knuckles, the side of your hand, a metal cup measure, or a flat-bottomed glass to press the crust firmly and as uniformly as possible to about a 1/4-inch thickness.
For the filling: Spoon the cranberry sauce across the bottom crust. Smooth with an offset spatula. Scatter the raspberries over the cranberries and sprinkle with the sugar. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and pinch off small pieces, scattering the nubbins across the top of the filling. Top with the almonds.
Bake (on top of the steel, stone, or baking sheet if using) until the almonds appear toasted and the crumble is slightly browned, 50 to 55 minutes. Place on a rack to cool slightly before portioning. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
The delicious new food trend of slab pies that makes it easy to serve sweet or savory pastry to a crowd-or just your family!
For those of you who aren't up on your Pinterest food trends, slab pie is just like regular pie-only better (and bigger)! Instead of crimping and meticulously rolling out a round crust, slab pies are an unfussy twist that are perfect for a potluck or dinner party or just a family dinner. Baked on sheet pans, slab pies can easily serve a crowd of people dinner or dessert. Pie Squared includes seventy-five foolproof recipes, along with inventive decoration tips that will appeal to baking nerds and occasional bakers alike. And this fresh, uncomplicated take on pie will surely pique the interest of those who have previously been reluctant to take out their rolling pin.
Barrow didn't invent slab pie, but she definitely thinks outside of the crust. In addition to traditional pie dough, she offers more than a dozen crust recipes-from cracker crusts and cornbread crusts to cookie crusts and cheddar cheese crusts. Using these as a base, Barrow then entices readers with both savory and sweet slab pie creations, with recipes like Spinach, Gorgonzola, and Walnut Slab Pie and Curried Chicken Slab Pie to Sour Cream Peach Melba Slab Pie and Grande Mocha Cappuccino Slab Pie. The first book of its kind, this will appeal to lovers of easy food trends like sheet pan suppers and dump cakes. Don't be surprised when you start spying slab pies at your next potluck!
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