Cranberry Ginger Pear Pie
A beautiful holiday cranberry ginger pear pie with tender pears, tart cranberries and spicy ginger that warms you up on those cold winter days! (Originally published Nov 2013. Recipe and pictures updated Nov 2017)
Behold, it is not Friday and I am sharing with you a pie. I had to share this cranberry ginger pear pie before we went away for the long weekend. With the first snow fall last weekend and all of this week, we have 6-inches of snow on the ground already and as you can imagine it’s cold. This pie has served as our comfort food through most of the blizzard as it was the first thing I made when I came back from our trip to San Diego.
The recipe was in the new Cook’s Illustrated cookbook I bought for my in-flight reading and just knew I was going to make it as the last pie in the Pie Friday series, launching the holiday season. I was going to share it last week but didn’t since Michelle made the same pie and I decided to wait a week.
I love baking with pears as you can tell from the past couple of weeks of fall (spiced pear bread, pear walnut chocolate pie) and this pie is no exception to the absolute greatness of tender and textured pears. The combination of cranberries and juicy pears not only gives the pie it’s beautiful red glow but also it’s tartness and spicy zing from the ginger.
This pie is also very aromatic (oh smells so good while it bakes) thanks to the fresh ginger in the filling and crystallized ginger in the crunchy topping. Freaking awesome my friends. The conclusion here is that you need this cranberry ginger pear pie in your holiday baking line up. It’s perfect for any cold night!
It goes without saying that you NEED this pie on your holiday table. It’s a must and will become a new favorite for everyone.
More Holiday Pies to try
- Pumpkin Pie
- Mini Pumpkin Pies
- Pumpkin Butter Hand Pies
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart
- Apple Cheddar Cranberry Pie
Cranberry Ginger Pear Pie
A beautiful holiday cranberry ginger pear pie with tender pears, tart cranberries and spicy ginger that warms you up on those cold days!
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Filling:
- 3 pounds pears (I used Bartletts), peeled, cored and sliced in ¼ inch slices
- ½ cup sugar, divided
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- A pinch of salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and remaining warm
- 8 ounces (2 cups) fresh cranberries
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
Instructions
To make pie crust:
- Prepare ¼ cup ice-cold water and keep in fridge. In a food processor, pulse the flour, shortening, 2 tablespoons butter and salt until combined. Add in the rest of butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons cold water over mixture and pulse until dough comes together in clumps. If dry, add a little bit more water (1 teaspoon at a time). Remove dough from processor and form into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. The dough can be made up to 3 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 15-30 minutes before rolling out.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and fit into a 9-inch round pie dish. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides. Using sharp shears, trim the overhanging dough, leaving about 2-inches. Fold overhanging dough under itself and crimp the edges. Wrap loosely with plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes and until filling is ready.
For the filling and topping:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and move oven rack to the lowest position.
- In a large bowl, toss pears with 2 tablespoons of sugar and cook covered in a microwave for 4 to 8 minutes, until the pears are tender and they release their juices. Mix half way through microwaving. Let cool completely.
- To make the topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons sugar, crystallized ginger, ground ginger and salt. Add in warm melted butter and mix until mixture is moistened and looks like pebbles. Set aside
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cranberries, fresh ginger and remaining sugar. Pulse until cranberries are roughly chopped, only a few pulses. Place into a large bowl.
- Drain the cooled pear and discard liquid. Add pears to cranberry mixture and stir to combine. Transfer filling to the pie dish. Sprinkle the topping over the pears, making sure to break up any large clumps. Place pie dish on a baking sheet and bake until juices are bubbling and topping is golden brown, about 45-55 minutes.
- Let pie cool completely on rack, about 4 hours before serving.
Notes
Pie filling adapted from Food Network
I saw this pie in Cook’s Illustrated too…looks so good and I love that bright red color! Have a great Thankgiving Zainab!!
Delicious! I never give pears much of a thought. I’ve bookmarked this one for Christmas!
Have a lovely Thanksgiving! Safe travels!
Another recipe that sounds absolutely fabulous! I’ve been showing all my students pictures of pie and they don’t quite get it. They keep saying it’s a cake, which it’s not. Austria is sadly lacking in pie (and pie pans).
P.S. Food magazines are my favorite for long train or plane journeys, too 🙂
This pie looks incredible! I am so loving the topping on this!
Thanks Nancy! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
This pie is just lovely, and that filling sounds divine! I’ve had pears on my mind for a pie a lot lately and this one just sounds so perfect. Happy thanksgiving to you!
Thanks Marcie! Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you make a pear pie soon and share with us 🙂
A blizzard? That’ll get you in the Christmas spirit! 🙂 It has just been plain cold around here. Between your butterscotch and curry and now this cranberry and ginger, you’ve won my creative flavor combo award for pies! The color in this is incredible and I would love to have a slice of this … next to my half plate of stuffing (glad I’m not the only one!) That’s all you need for a good meal, right?
Thank you very much Mary Frances! I hope you had a great Thabksgiving filled with lots of stuffing. I did hehe 🙂
Girl this pie looks incredible! And it’s bursting with holiday color!
Thanks Steph! Happy Thanksgiving
Gorgeous pie! Love the color of the filling, so festive! Plus, such an awesome combination of flavors. I always seem to forget about pears, but now I really want to bake something with them. 🙂
Thanks Beth! Pears do take a back seat in the fall/winter I don’t know why because they are so awesome to bake with. Hope you had a good turkey day 🙂
Seriously, you are the pie queen! Every time I am on your blog all I want to do is bake a pie. The color of the filling is gorgeous and the crust looks absolutely delicious! I can’t believe you already have six inches of snow on the ground, we have barely had any in Minnesota (fingers crossed!). I hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving!
Only a Minnesotan will be jealous of snow lol! We had more this week and it’s close to 10-inches now. Thanks so much my dear and I hope you had a great thanksgiving :). Ps: I have to FB message u soon with some news!
This pie looks amazing!!!! Love the combo of flavors – perfect for the holiday 🙂
Thanks Aly! I hope you have a great Thanksgiving.
Love the pretty color of this pie! The flavors are just perfect for the holidays, too. Thank you for sharing, girl. Warmest wishes for a meaningful and happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you Stacy! The color is indeed vibrant and I love it. I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving day filled with lots of family and love!
Wow, this pie looks stunning Zainab! I love baking with pears and cranberries and combining these two sounds wonderful! The topping sounds incredible too! Pinned and can’t wait to try this ::) Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving 🙂
Thank you Kelly! You are awesome. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving too 🙂
My husband and I are big fans of Cook’s Illustrated as well. They do things RIGHT!! You did a great job with this pie! It looks so beautiful and festive!!
Thanks Renee! I love Cook’s illustrated beyond describing. I’ve learned so much from their detailed instructions and tips. I just made an eggnog bundt today from them 🙂
Z- we need to hook up for some of your pies. Seriously. I love the combo of pears and ginger.
I agree!! We need to soon 🙂
This pie looks so fun, festive and colorful! And delish too, what’s not to love???
I hope you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving! 😉
Thanks Consuelo! It is very festive lol
Happy Thanksgiving Zainab!!!!! 🙂 This pie is sooooo scrumptious! I absolutely love pear and ginger together!!!And the crumb topping with crystallized ginger…ohhhh yum!!!!! Perfect for the Holidays! Can’t wait to try this! 🙂 ^.^
I love including cranberries in this!! They add the perfect burst of tang to the sweet pie. Beautiful!
Feel free to share pies with us anytime, Zainab! This one is a beauty, and the best part is that it is perfect for the holidays, but I could also envision sharing it in the summer, with a different kind of berry! That’s one wonderfully versatile pie.
Excellent combination of ingredients! Thanks!
That pie looks delicious!
I can smell how great this ginger pear pie is from here! Yum!
I need to make this pie! Cranberries are the best and I love pears but haven’t made a successful pie with them yet. But 6 inches of snow? Yuck!
What a great combination of flavours! Pears are great in any dessert, and I think this one would be over the top.
You are officially the pie queen! I’m amazed at these delicious pies that you keep making. This one is just gorgeous – I love the color!!
Thanks for sharing this with us at MM tonight! I love the flavors – pinned!
That is one crazy gorgeous looking pie girl!!! I am with you on the stuffing love! I had a fair share of stuffing this past week…I figure I eat dessert all the time, so I filled up on all the other sides!
mmmmmm yum your pie looks so good!
What a gorgeous (delicious) pie! I could eat all things cranberry, but especially paired with pears or apples and the warmth of ginger spice…Mmmmm! Yum!
This pie looks so delicious especially the crumble and the burst of colour! I love the combination of flavours. I want a slice please!
This pie looks so delicious, especially the crumble and the burst of colour! I love the combination of flavours. I want a slice please!
What a beautiful pie! I wouldn’t have thought to add ginger, but it sounds delicious. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
Cranberries and pears sound great together. This pie is perfect for the holidays. Thank you for linking to the In and Out of the Kitchen Link Party. I look forward to seeing you next week.
Thank you so much 🙂
Oh yum! This looks awesome!
Thanks dear 🙂
Oh, that pie sounds perfect for the holidays!
It is!!
I can’t wait to try this recipe! It looks delicious
Let me know how you like it!
Can’t wait to do this for thanksgiving!!