I donāt want to speak ill of pumpkin pie, with its potent spices and creamy center. I donāt want to tell you that apple pie, with all its slicing and double-crust fiddling, can be a lot of work. I wonāt even mention the existential dilemma that comes when youāre considering pecan pie.
What I will point out, however, is that the easiest pie youāll ever make for Thanksgiving is this lemony cranberry number. And if easy doesnāt sell you, I'll wager that itās also the most refreshing and palate-cleansing pie option that still feels seasonally appropriate. Unlike the pies mentioned above, which are often heavily spiced or made with robustly flavored sweeteners like molasses and brown sugar, this pie is light, bright, and invigorating (yes, invigorating!) in a way that those more traditional pies canāt be.
The cranberry pie recipe comes from Epi contributor Sarah Jampel, who adores chess pie and was looking to offer a Thanksgiving option thatās as easy as clafoutisāthe eggy fruit-studded French dessert. Here, the sugary custard is shot through with a combination of lemon zest and juice, which gives the pie the bracingly sweet-tart flavor of the best lemon bars. Thereās a little vanilla in there too, which adds warmth, plus cornmeal (a traditional thickener for chess pies) and flour (which gives the pie a pleasingly squidgy texture).
What makes this Thanksgiving pie a true standout, though, is the cranberries. Jampel cooks the berries just slightly in a pan before cooling, then folds them into the whisked custard. You can reserve about one-third of the berries to scatter over the top for maximum visual appeal, or fold them all in for maximum ease. Either way the tart berries will set throughout the custard as the pie bakes in the oven. The result is a pie with a cracklyānearly crustedāgolden top adorned with jewellike pops of bright red cranberry.
When eaten, the cranberries burst with a jellylike texture. Their sourness cuts through the richness of the eggs and cream in the custard and keeps the sweetness in check. If youād like, you can dust the top with a blanket of powdered sugar or spoon a dollop of whipped cream over each slice, but neither is strictly necessary.
Jampel notes that making pieāespecially this pie in this yearāshould not be a source of stress. If youāre comfortable preparing and blind-baking a pie crust from scratchāor if you want to attempt it for the first timeāgreat! If not, we have some favorite store-bought options, the best of which is already set in a tin (bonus for anyone baking this year who doesnāt own a pie plate).
And speaking of lowering your stress level: If youāre wondering what to serve pre-pie at Thanksgiving this year, we have some ideas. This dessert appears at the end of a very low-key menu of miso-roast chicken (not turkey!) with a squash and apple panzanella. Itās a simple setup devised to make Thanksgiving 2020 a deliciously calm holiday, but if you find yourself turning to it (and to this cranberry pie recipe) again in years to come, we wouldnāt be surprised.
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