Nantucket Cranberry Pie

Now that we're heading into the Fall baking season, fresh cranberries are again abundant in the markets. This pie/cake from Laurie Colwin's book, "Home Cooking" was a recipe I've had on my mind to make since I found her wonderful book the beginning of this year.
I made her Nutmeg Cake and it was great. This cake is equally terrific. It's a simple and easy to throw together rustic kind of dessert that is best, in my humble opinion, alone, but vanilla ice cream or whipped cream would be a great addition.
The fresh cranberries give a nice bite of tartness and the walnuts add that ever loving crunch I adore! I didn't chop up the walnuts small enough so you may want to chop them finer than I show below. Pecans with the cranberries are also a good combo and would be a great substitute for the walnuts.
At the end of the recipe I have a few additional notes.
I actually used some of the notes' suggestions and used half light brown sugar and added a pinch of cloves to the batter.
This pie, which is more like a cake, is wonderfully moist and just as good, or even better, on day three as day one..if it lasts that long!

Begin by chopping up the cranberries..always a challenge to chop anything round! ( You'll find out why they used to be called bounce berries!).I didn't feel like bringing out the food processor for this but it might have worked better..certainly faster. (But the pieces might have chopped too small with the food processor.)

Then chop the walnuts into rather small pieces. Smaller than I show unless you like big chunks of nuts.

Butter a springform pan or 10" pie plate...

And throw the cranberries, walnuts and 1/2 cup sugar into the pan and mix around a little bit.

Then in a medium bowl, mix the eggs, melted butter, sugar, flour, salt and almond extract together.

And pour the mixture over the cranberry/nut mixture.

Spread the batter evenly over the cranberry and nuts.

And bake it for about 40 minutes. Test with a knife or toothpick inserted in the center for doneness.

Let it rest for about 30 minutes in the pan, then release and remove the sides, if using a springform pan, and cool completely before cutting.

Nantucket Cranberry Pie ( from Laurie Colwin's book, " Home Cooking")

2 cups chopped fresh cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup sugar

1 cup AP flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 10" pie plate or a 10" springform pan.

1. In a small bowl, mix cranberries, walnuts and dump into your prepared plate or pan.

2. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup of sugar over top of the cranberry/nut mixture and mix lightly.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, melted butter, sugar, flour, salt and almond extract til well combined.

4. Pour mixture over the cranberry nut mixture and spread evenly to cover.

5. Bake approx. 40 minutes, or til tester comes out clean.

6. Let pie rest for about 30 minutes, then remove sides of springform pan, if using, and cool completely.

**Notes:

You can:

Use a combo of brown and white sugar
Add a dash of cloves

Add a little orange zest or a tablespoon of orange juice to berries

Can sub vanilla for the almond extract