Leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving is transformed into an easy-to-make fruity dessert featuring some of the best flavors of fall. Maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, and five-spice powder bring new life to traditional fruit filling. Served on a shortbread crust and topped with whipped cream, this recipe is simple but decadent
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 35 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Servings 9servings
Ingredients
Crust
½Cbuttermelted
2Tbwhite sugar
½tsppumpkin pie spice
1.5Call-purpose flour
½tspkosher salt
½Cpecansfinely chopped
Filling
1 14ozcan whole berry cranberry sauce
1bartlett pear
1granny smith apple
½lemon
½orange
¼Cmaple syrup
½tspChinese five-spice
½tsppumpkin pie spice
½tspkosher salt
¼tspground ginger
½tspvanilla extract
Whipped Cream (optional)
1Cheavy cream
⅓Cpowdered sugar
1tspvanilla extract
pinchkosher salt
Instructions
To make the crust
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare an 8-inch by 8-inch pan with baking spray.
Combine the melted butter, sugar and pumpkin pie spice with a fork. Add the flour and salt and mix until large crumbs start to form. Last, add the pecans and mix until evenly distributed.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Press the dough into an even layer using your fingers. I like to use a technique where I work from the center of the pan out toward the edges, keeping the crust an even thickness. The dough will go only about halfway up the sides of the pan. Press firmly where the two sides of the pan meet so it's not too thick in the corners.
Place the crust in the freezer for 15 minutes to prevent it from shrinking when baking. After 15 minutes in the freeze, immediately place in the oven and partially bake the crust for 15 minutes before filling.
To make the filling
Zest the orange half and reserve in a large mixing bowl. Zest and juice the lemon half and add to the orange zest. Peel the apple and cut into a half-inch dice. Also, dice the pear into half-inch pieces but no need to peel.
Add the diced apple and pear and all of the remaining ingredients to the bowl with the citrus zest and mix until well combined.
Once the crust has baked for 15 minutes, pour the filling in and place it back in the oven. Don't worry if the crust is still hot when you add the filling.
Bake for 45-50 minutes at 375 degrees. The filling will be set but still with a wiggle to it. The edges should be browned but not burnt.
To make whipped cream
Place the cold heavy cream into a medium mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whip on high for 60 seconds. Turn the mixer off and add the remaining ingredients.
Turn the mixer back on and whip on high until the cream is stiff. Turn the speed down to medium-high when the texture starts to thicken to prevent the cream from becoming butter. Stop as soon as you can easily hold a dollop on your finger or a spoon.