The Makes-Me-Wanna SHOUT! Baking Challenge was happy to sponsor and be part of the 2013 DC State Fair. Read Sharon’s pie story and recipe for the Chalfant Cranberry Apple Pie below.
Your winning Chalfant Cranberry Apple Pie has two stories for both the crust and filling. Tell us who inspired or is the source for the crust recipe and the filling?
The Cranberry Apple pie recipe comes from my maternal grandmother, Eliza Watts Chalfant (pictured with family), whom I called “Chalfant Mother.” She was from Kentucky and cooked “country”–my dad talked about pork chops for breakfast when my parents visited when they were first married, and she cooked fried mush for us for breakfast. This recipe is a family favorite and it’s my go-to recipe for company, potlucks at work, etc.
The pie crust comes from my Dad’s side of the family and at some point my mom switched over to using it. I spoke with my aunt, Eula Adine Weigelt (seen in photo with her husband, Sharon’s uncle), and she recalls getting it from a Mrs Kincaid at their church in Nampa, Idaho, where my uncle taught college. It’s actually an oil crust recipe that I have seen in cookbooks before. I’m not sure why it’s not more widely used as it is very simple.
This is a vegan pie. Are you vegan or vegetarian?
I realized it was vegan a few years ago when I brought it to work and an Ethiopian coworker who was fasting for Easter thought she couldn’t eat it. I use almond or soy milk; you can also substitute water or orange juice for the dairy.
I am not vegan or vegetarian, although I have not eaten much meat in recent years. However, since meeting Tracye McQuirter (vegan) a few weeks ago and reading her book By Any Greens Necessary I have been about 98% vegan and am thinking about continuing. It’s very liberating to not plan a meal around meat, and I feel so much better having cut out cheese, which had been my primary source of animal product in the past year or so.
What other vegan desserts do you make?
I make all kinds of pies (squash, sweet potato, apple blueberry, apple blackberry, peach) and they are all vegan, but I haven’t made other vegan desserts, although I plan on experimenting with this.
Sharon Winget’s Chalfant Cranberry Apple Pie
2013 DC State Fair Best in Show and Best Apple Winner
For a 9” Pie
Note: You can use this recipe for other fruit combinations. Just adjust the amount of sugar according to the sweetness or tartness of the fruit.
Pie Filling
• Use 3 – 4 apples – peel, quarter, remove core, slice thin until you have 3 – 4 cups depending on the size of the apple. (I use a combination of Granny Smith and a red apple like Fuji, Braeburn, or a baking apple, but not Red Delicious.)
• 1 cup cranberries (frozen are fine, don’t need to be defrosted)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tbs instant tapioca
Prepare the apples and combine with the frozen cranberries in a large mixing bowl.
Combine the sugar, cinnamon and tapioca, pour over the fruit; let sit while you make the crust, gently stirring with a rubber spatula to combine; the juices will form a syrup
Crust
• 2 cups bleached, all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup milk (I use soy or almond milk for a vegan pie, but dairy is fine)
Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl and stir mixing in the salt
Add the oil, then the milk in the same measuring cup until the milk reaches the one cup line.
Combine the dry and liquid ingredients and stir until combined; it should come together nicely into an oily ball. Divide into two portions.
Place a sheet of wax paper on the counter (16 – 18 inches is plenty). Place one half of the crust on this sheet.
Flatten the crust with your fingers forming a disk about one inch thick, then cover with a second sheet of wax paper. Roll the crust out between the two pieces of wax paper until it is slightly wider in diameter than the outer edge of the pie plate, maybe about 10″ or so. Peel off the upper piece of wax paper.
Place the pie plate on the counter next to the rolled out crust Gently lift one end of the piece of wax paper holding the crust, and carefully maneuver it over the pie plate, crust down and wax paper up.
Push the crust into place and then slowly peel off the paper. (The crust should adhere somewhat to the paper, so it’s not that hard to do.)
Push and shape the crust a bit so that there are no bubbles and it lays flat on the sides of the pie plate. There can be some overhang of crust. This crust is forgiving so you can roll it out again if it doesn’t work the first time.)
By now, the fruit should have moistened the sugar mixture–mix this and then place in the bottom pie crust.
Roll out the second piece of crust and place over top of the fruit. Fold both pieces of crust together and crimp. Puncture the top crust 10 – 12 times with a fork, sprinkle top crust with cinnamon and a generous spoonful of sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees for 50 – 55 minutes, until crust is nicely browned and juices begin to pool at the edges of the pie. (You may have to place a piece of foil on the rack below the pie in case the juices drip.)
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