Upside Down Candy Cane Apple and Cranberry Pie

Upside Down Candy Cane Apple and Cranberry Pie – As seen on ITV This Morning!

For more upside down recipes, check out my book, Upside Down Cooking

Welcome back to upside down cooking and today we’re getting Christmas creative with this Candy Cane Apple and Cranberry Pie.I mark out the candy cane shape and then cut strips of puff pastry for the candy stripes and lay them onto the buttered baking tray.

I then mix up apples, pears, cranberry jelly, glace cherries and cinnamon and this is then spooned onto the candy cane shape.

We then drape it with a candy-cane shape of puff pastry and seal the edges.  A quick brush with egg-wash and a blast in a hot oven until gloriously golden, we reveal the Upside Down, Candy Cane Apple and Cranberry Pie of Christmas dreams!

Serves 6

• 2 x 320g (11oz) sheets of ready-rolled puff pastry, roughly 35 x 23cm (14 x 9in)
• 75g (2½oz) butter, melted
• 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
• 2 cooking apples, peeled, cored, and cut into very small dice
• 100g frozen mixed berries (raspberries, red currants)
• 1 tbsp cranberry sauce or jelly (plus extra for serving)
• 2 tablespoons raspberry jam
• 7 glace cherries – chopped
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg, beaten

YOU WILL NEED

• large baking tray, roughly 43 x 30cm (17 x 12in), lined with baking parchment
• a candy cane template that fits within the baking tray
• Sharp knives
• Pastry brush
• Large bowl
• Icing sugar to serve

1 Preheat the oven to 220ºC (200ºC fan/425ºF/Gas 7). Unroll one of the sheets of pastry, placing it horizontally in front of you. Cut the pastry into 5cm (2 inch) wide strips, lay them out on a tray and put them in the fridge until needed.

2 draw around the candy can shape onto the baking parchment then flip it over. 

3 Smear the butter all over the baking paper-lined baking tray and sprinkle with the sugar. Arrange the pastry strips in a stripe ‘candy cane’ pattern within the drawn candy shape on the tray. Trim the pasty stripes to the line.

4 Place the apples in a bowl and mix in the berries, jams, cherries and cinnamon, then gently tip the mixture on top of the candy cane shape, leaving a 1.5cm (⅔in) border around the edge.

5 Unroll the second sheet of pastry, and using the candy cane template, cut out the shape 1cm larger all round. Drape this piece of pastry over the apple mixture. Trim the edges of the tart to neaten, if needed. Using the back of a fork, press around the edge of the pastry to seal. Score the top in a diamond pattern with a sharp knife, and then brush with egg.  

6 Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the pastry is golden and crisp. Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to sit on the tray for 5 minutes. Lay a piece of baking paper on top, followed by a chopping board, and carefully flip the tart over. Remove the tray and lift off the backing paper. Brush a little more cranberry sauce onto the exposed fruit to make it pop with the red colour.

7 Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with freshly whipped cream and holly leaf cookies.

Puff Pastry Holly Cookies

• 1 x 320g (11oz) sheets of ready-rolled puff pastry, roughly 35 x 23cm (14 x 9in)
• 2 tablespoons pistachio cream (or Nutella)
• Green food colouring gel
• Red smarties or m&m’s (for the berries)

YOU WILL NEED

• large baking tray, roughly 43 x 30cm (17 x 12in), lined with baking parchment
• a holly leaf shaped cookie cutter
• Sharp knife
• Pastry brush
• Small bowl

1 Preheat the oven to 220ºC (200ºC fan/425ºF/Gas 7). Unroll the pastry cut it in half down the middle from ling side to long side. Spoon the pistachio cream onto one half of the pastry sheet and then lay the second half on top and gently push down.

2 Cut out as many holly leaf shapes as you can, you should get roughly 6.  Lay these onto the baking sheet.

3 In a bowl, squeeze some food colouring and using a pastry brush, brush the holly leaves on top with the green.  Using a knife, mark the leaf veins down the middle.

4 Bake for 15 minutes until puffed. Once they come out of the oven place them on a wire rack to cool.  When using them for decoration, place them in groups of 2 or 3 using  red smarties or m&m’s as the berries.

For more upside down recipes, check out my book, Upside Down Cooking

For more pastry recipes, check out these on Dom in the Kitchen

Eat and of course, enjoy!