Cranberry Chocolate Meringue Pie with Pecan Crust

An amazing centre piece for your Holiday dessert table, this Cranberry Chocolate Meringue Pie with Pecan Crust has it all: Fluffy, creamy Italian Meringue laced with Cranberry sauce, a decadent, creamy dark chocolate ganache and a crunchy pecan crust with cinnamon, to round it all out. Plus it’s secretly gluten and lactose free, so everyone can enjoy it!

 

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• Why You Will Love This
• The Ingredients
• The Process
• How To Store
• FAQ

Why You Will Love This 

Ok…a super quick announcement:
In case you haven’t seen it popping up on my front page, where I posted it rather overexcitedly, I now have a lot of time for my blog!

A Cloud Of Pink Italian Meringue

Back to new recipes, here is one for you that has been bouncing around in my head since I stopped posting. I’ve been a bit obsessed with Italian meringue and ganache pies lately, and this one seemed to be just too perfect to not share it for the holidays.

Apart from this, you can look forward to a few more meringue pies that won’t leave me alone until I share them with you. In the end you’ll have a rainbow of meringue pies that you’ll want to make all at once, to just look incredibly pretty on your table.
I’m thinking of making some vegan, others not, just to give you the options. Let me know what you would prefer. I could also include simple steps to veganize those that I make non-vegan.

I mean…look at it! Need I say more?

As someone who tried a version of it said: “This is the perfect pie! Creamy, fluffy, crunchy and oddly enough not too sweet.”

Another one: “I could eat this all day!” (groans of enjoyment following)

Adapted from a NYT recipe, which used a lemon curd filling for the pie, the chocolate takes it into a very different direction. More decadent, but I feel perfectly fitting for the holidays, which are all about indulgence. 

Christmas-y if you want 

I’ve added cinnamon and allspice to the crust, making it the perfect combination for a Christmas centre piece with it’s doming pink meringue fluff. If you are making this at another time of the year, you can of course leave the spices out, but I urge you to try it, as it just rounds out the whole experience of this stunning pie.

Gluten Free 

While many pies use ready made pastry, I went with a variation of my favorite pie crust here, similar to the one I used in my Protein Banoffee Mousse Pie , which btw is another stunning pie to serve this Christmas.
It’s made of pecans, oats, buckwheat flour, olive oil and maple syrup, giving it a fantastic crunch and nutty flavor that no one will even realise is gluten free, it’s just so good!

Lactose Free 

A tiny tweak in making the chocolate ganache, swapping in coconut cream instead of the classic cream, makes this not just lactose free, but also feeling ever so slightly lighter, without sacrificing any of the decadence. Don’t worry, you won’t taste the coconut.

Safe to eat for everyone 

Since we are using the Italian Meringue method here, where hot syrup is slowly added to the whipped egg whites, they are “cooked” and safe to eat, even for the immune-compromised or pregnant.

Prepare Ahead 

Now, I realise all the steps might look complicated, but they are really not. And you can prepare the crust, cranberry sauce and chocolate ganache the day before, pour the ganache on the pie crust and leave it in the fridge overnight to set. Then on the day, just whip up the meringue and stabilise it with the sugar syrup, fold in the cranberry sauce and pile it high on the readily prepared crust. 

The Ingredients

Crust 

• Pecans – Adapting from the almond crust I used for other pies like this Chocolate Protein Mousse Pie, I swapped in Pecans for a festive flavor combo.
• Oats and buckwheat flour – These two give the crust stability and hold, so it’s easy to cut and move to plates. They also underline the lovely nutty flavor or the pecans.
• Ground cinnamon and allspice – Responsible for the lovely Christmas flavor of this festive pie. You can leave them out if you don’t enjoy it.
• Maple syrup and extra virgin olive oil – They are the moisture bringing the crust together, giving you a caramelised flavor after baking and a really crisp result. You could use coconut oil instead of olive oil, but I found it stands out a bit too much in this particular crust. Olive is more subtle.

Cranberry Sauce

I totally forgot to take pictures of this batch, but you can check the process and ingredient pictures in this post for Cranberry Sauce. You won’t need the port or make caramel for this version.

• Fresh or frozen cranberries – These are seasonal and at least in Ireland only available from mid-November until December with some leftovers in January. Make the most of the season while it lasts and make a few jars of it. You can use it as jam on bread, in whipped butter (recipe coming soon), spice it up for using with meats or to stir through yoghurt for a festive breakfast. Either way, it’s highly addictive and probably my all-time favourite fruit preserve. They have natural pectin, meaning you won’t need any additives.
• Sugar – This helps the cranberries to get their jammy consistency and tempers their natural sourness.
• Fresh orange juice and zest – While many preserves use lemon juice, cranberries have a natural bitterness that would be even more pronounced if we were to add lemon juice. So, in order to get that smooth and pleasant flavor, orange works best. Do use the zest. It makes all the difference!
• Rosemary – I realise this is a bit unusual in a dessert but trust me on this one! Since it’s just a small amount and very finely chopped, plus the bits later being strained out, it just adds this tiny bit of herby je-ne-sais-quoi, having you wonder why it’s so addictive.

Chocolate Ganache

• Good quality dark chocolate – I used 70% Madagascan dark chocolate, which I found to have the smoothest, yet interesting flavor for use in desserts. Use any dark chocolate you really enjoy eating. If you are not a big fan of dark, add a little bit of good Belgian milk chocolate, to temper the bitterness. I wouldn’t swap it all though, as the meringue is fairly sweet, and you don’t want it to be cloying.
• Coconut milk – Canned, good quality, with a thick layer of cream on top. Please don’t use low fat here, as you need the creaminess for ganache.

 Meringue

• Egg whites – Use very fresh ones, free range. Older or battery hen egg whites might (apart from not being ethical) not whip up properly.

Tip:
If you are looking to make this vegan, try my Vegan Meringue for this recipe!
It’s made from aquafaba (water from a can of unsalted chickpeas) and remains stable for several days due to 2 secrets.
There is no need to make an Italian or swiss meringue with it either, as it’s safe to eat and stable enough as it is.

• Sugar – You can use simple white or caster sugar here. As long as you stir until dissolved before your syrup comes to a boil it’s both fine. If you want to use brown sugar, your meringue will get a slightly golden hue. Which can be great, but maybe not if you want the pink cranberry sauce to shine through. Check my Brown Sugar Pavlovas to see a version where it works beautifully.
• Cream of tartar or lemon juice – Both of these are used interchangeably to stabilise the meringue. It’s purely a matter of preference or what you have at home which of the two you add.
• Vanilla and a pinch of salt – Both add a bit of interest to otherwise fairly plain sweet meringue and balance the cranberry sauce.
• Orange Zest – Optional. And I promptly forgot to add it! Because I’m scatterbrained. 

The Process

Crust

Prepare the pecan crust base:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Prepare a springform* by laying some baking parchment over the bottom, placing the ring over it to close, then cutting off a bit of the overlap with scissors.

Toast the pecans on a sheetpan* in the oven for about 5-8 min, until fragrant. Be careful not to burn them. Let them cool a bit.

Place the toasted pecans in a food processor* and pulse until coarsely ground. You want some about half of it relatively fine and the rest a bit coarser, which usually is how the blades of the processor chop it at first anyway, meaning the only trick here is to stop before it’s all super fine.

Tip the ground nuts into your mixing bowl*.

Add the oats to the processor and pulse until finely ground. You won’t get to flour texture, which is fine. You want the crust to have bite.

In a mixing bowl * combine the dry ingredients

Add the oil and maple sirup to the dry ingredients. Mix well until a sticky dough forms. It should be easy to squish together, but also crumble apart when you rub it.

Press the dough into the bottom of a springform pan *, which you have lined with baking parchment.
Resist the urge to push it up the sides. We only want a flat disk.

Poke with a fork a few times, to prevent bubbles from forming.

Bake the crust in the preheated oven for about 14-18 minutes, or until it turns golden brown. Turn once if your oven bakes unevenly.

Once the crust is done baking, remove it from the oven and let it cool completely. Do not take out of the springform, as you will need it to hold the ganache until it’s firmed up. Cover with clingfilm after it is cooled if you make it the day before.

Cranberry Sauce

To make the cranberry sauce stir together the cranberries, sugar, finely chopped rosemary if using, orange juice and zest in a saucepan*.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low to rapidly simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
I found squishing the cranberries with a potato masher after they started popping open really helps to thicken the sauce and will give you more liquid when straining.
Boil until the sauce thickens.

While still hot, strain through a sieve into a medium bowl *, squishing and stirring with a wooden or firm plastic spoon, to extract all the liquid. (You should have a scant cup; discard the solids.) Cool completely, then refrigerate until it’s the consistency of a thick jam. 

Ganache

This is the easiest part!

Bring the coconut milk to a boil in a medium saucepan * over medium heat. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in the hot coconut milk; let sit for 1 minute, then stir slowly with a rubber spatula * until smooth.

Pour over the cooled pecan crust while still in the spring form *.

Cranberry Meringue

In the bowl of your stand mixer * or a large bowl with a hand mixer *, add the egg whites (room temperature is best), salt and cream of tartar or lemon juice. Start whisking until you have soft peaks. Add the vanilla extract and mix briefly until incorporated.

Sugar Syrup

Mix water and sugar in a small pot and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved while it heats up. Stop stirring when it boils, to prevent crystals from forming on the side of the pot. Just gently swirl the mixture occasionally.

Using a sugar thermometer*, boil until it reaches 240°F/175°C

Create Italian Meringue

Restart your stand mixer* or hand mixer*.

Now, being very careful, slowly pour the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into your egg whites while mixing. Be careful not to hit the whisk * attachment with the syrup, or it’ll spray it all over the place. Which is a mess on the sides of the bowl at best and burned skin at worst.

Once all syrup is incorporated, continue whisking until you have glossy, firm peaks that hold their shape when you pull out the whisk *. They should not flop over.

Be careful not to over whisk.

Stir the cranberry sauce until loose. Add about two thirds of the sauce to the meringue and beat on high for 30 seconds to incorporate it and get a lovely pink meringue. Carefully fold the rest of the cranberry sauce into the meringue to leave bright red streaks.

Assemble

To assemble, slide a sharp knife * that you held under hot water and dried off around the sides of the spring form *, to loosen the ganache. The crust should come off easily on it’s own, as it only covered the bottom.

Take off the rim and gently slide the now firm crust-chocolate disk onto your serving platter. It should be fairly stable and easy to move at this point.

Using a large spoon or rubber spatula*, pile the meringue high into the ganache, creating dimples and peaks as you go.

Now you can either leave this as is it in all it’s lovely pink glory or you can grab a kitchen torch* and caramelise parts of the cranberry meringue by running it gently over the surface.

Serve to your loved ones, enjoying the Ohh’s and Ahh’s when bringing it out. And even more so the eyes rolling back in their heads in pure pleasure, when they take their first bite. Dig in yourself, getting lost in (probably) your new favourite pie.

How To Store

If you want to get ahead, you can prepare the crust up to 2 days ahead and cover it tightly with cling film to keep it crisp. The ganache needs to set in the fridge for at least an hour, so if you start in the morning, you just add the meringue short before serving, which will only take 15min max.

FAQ 

Like this Recipe? You might enjoy these:

If you like this pie, you might also like Mango White Chocolate Cheesecake with Protein.

Cranberry fan and in search of your main course? Cranberry Rosemary Roasted Chicken is just what you need! 

Please Comment

Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please share and comment. It helps me a lot.