Turning leftover cranberry sauce into a show-stopping dessert.
The day after Thanksgiving feels a little like drowning in assorted leftovers, and eating the same things the same way gets boring pretty quickly. We like to take the leftovers and make something different out of them when we can.
This house loves cranberries and makes a big batch of cranberry sauce to share every year. Some years, it gets decimated at the family potluck Thanksgiving dinner and we bring back a few spoonfuls in the bottom of an almost empty Pyrex dish. But other years - like this year, apparently - we come back home with the larger family having made barely a dent. We had two more cups of cranberry sauce left, and not near enough turkey for that much.
So we got inventive. Today we made cranberry-cream cheese pie with a little kick.
We used homemade whole-berry cranberry sauce with real sugar, lemon juice and allspice. You're welcome to try it with the wobbly canned stuff, but your mileage - and the final product's texture and sweetness - may vary. (Let us know if you try it! We're curious, but also morally opposed to canned cranberry sauce.)
Ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup homemade whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried chipotle chili pepper
1 9-inch premade pecan pie crust
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Tools:
Measuring cups and spoons
Food processor
Spoons
Metal mixing bowl
Electric mixer
Preheat the oven to 350, and shove the mixing bowl in the fridge. We know that second one is a little weird, but just roll with it for now.
Begin by measuring your softened cream cheese into the food processor. Add the cranberry sauce and give everything a whirl to combine. Take a spoon and scrape down the sides to make sure you've got everything. Some food processors end up leaving a solid quarter of the cream cheese behind as it sticks to the edges.
Pack a quarter cup measuring cup with light brown sugar and dump that into the cream cheese and cranberry mixture. Pulse the food processor a couple times to begin breaking it up into the filling.
Measure in the dried chipotle. Feel free to use less if you have a lower spice tolerance.
Make triple sure you're using just the peppers! An anti-caking agent or preservative is totally fine, but not a chipotle spice blend. There are dozens of blends on the market, and while they're certainly tasty, they are not a great fit for this recipe. The most common second and third ingredients in the blends tend to be salt and/or garlic... and we are definitely not looking to make a salty garlic cranberry pie for dessert.
Now that all of your ingredients are in the food processor, run it until everything has reached a uniform consistency. You may have to pause occasionally to scrape down the sides.
Remove the blade from the food processor and scrape the filling into the pecan pie crust. We used a premade Diamond brand crust to avoid washing the food processor twice in one afternoon, but you could certainly make your own crust if you're less dish-phobic than we are.
Level the filling in the crust with the back of the spoon. We know it doesn't look like enough, but don't worry. The extra space is for a fat layer of homemade whipped cream later.
Bake the pie at 350 for 35 minutes. It will still be very thin-looking and wobbly when removed from the oven, but don't worry. Set it aside to cool on the counter for half an hour, then move it to the fridge to chill completely.
While you're in the fridge, grab the mixing bowl and move it to the counter. Pour in your heavy cream, measure the sugar and vanilla extract into it, power up the electric hand mixer and whip on low and medium low until you get stiff peaks. Cover the bowl and tuck it back into the fridge until it's time for dessert.
Once it's time to serve dessert, dump the whipped cream into the pie shell on top of the cranberry filling. Use the spoon to smooth it out, cut and serve.
This pie has sweet, tangy and spicy all in one delicious pie. To us, it’s delicious and utterly amazing, but you might just end up scaring some of your dinner guests. For that reason, we advise only breaking out this pie if you’re sure people can handle the heat.
This pie is proof that leftovers can be as exciting as the main event, blending bold flavors into a dessert that’s anything but ordinary. Whether you’re impressing guests or treating yourself, Heaven’s Pie is a sweet and spicy reminder to embrace creativity in the kitchen. And remember, while we’re all about innovative recipes, when it comes to appliances, leave the troubleshooting to us. Appliance Rescue Service is here to ensure your kitchen keeps running smoothly, pie after pie.
Call (214) 599-0055