Temperature: 375° F

Ingredients

Instructions

Serves 8.
1. To make the crust, mix shortening, flour, and salt together with a fork or a pastry blender until very crumbly. Add as much water as needed to hold together, and mix lightly with a fork.
2. Form the dough into a disk, then gently roll it out on a floured pastry cloth or Silpat, to about a 12 inch circle. Fold carefully in half. Lift to a 9-inch Emile Henry pie dish, and unfold. Crimp edges as desired.
3. Preheat oven to 375F.
4. To make the filling, melt the butter over medium-low heat in an electric skillet or a large nonstick saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water and brown sugar, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, add pears, and let simmer gently until pears are fork-tender, about 20-25 minutes. If necessary, add more water as the pears cook.
5. To make the Vanilla Cream, place the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, flour, and eggs in a mixing bowl and beat with a hand-mixer until smooth.
6. Pour cream cheese mixture into prepared crust.
7. Bake pie at 375F for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and middle is set. Place on a rack to cool.
8. Set oven to 400F. To make Cinnamon Pecan Crumble, combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor until crumbly, then bake at 400F for 10 minutes.
9. When pie is cool, spread Pear and Cranberry filling into crust and top with Cinnamon Pecan Crumble.
10. Garnish with pecan halves and cranberries around the edge of the pie, and make a flower in the middle with 5 pecan halves and a cranberry in the center.
My Emile Henry pie dish was a gift.