I spent the afternoon cooking my first ever #Worksgiving dinner for my colleagues yesterday.

From that epic adventure, I take away a couple of things:

1. I am completely lost in a kitchen that doesn’t have scissors.

2. As surprised as I might be about it, I do like cranberry with turkey.

3. Cooking an entire meal, complete with a table worth of sides, in one afternoon in borderline insane.

4. Pie is a Thanksgiving staple (or life staple if you ask me) but baking one in a hot kitchen is not a good idea.

Luckily, I baked this little show-stopper the night before.

Meet my Christmas-meets-Thanksgiving, half Americana-half Fah la la la la masterpiece: The Festive Apple and Cranberry Pie.

Complete with loads of stars and just a touch of maple syrup.

Want to make your own (of course you do!)? Here’s how:

Festive Apple and Cranberry Pie (serves 8)

Ingredients: 1 bloc of (puff or shortcrust) all-butter pastry, 1 egg yolk, 100g cranberries, 1kg apples, 2 oranges, 100 mL maple syrup, a few tablespoons of Demerara sugar

1. Grate the zest of 1 orange, then squeeze the 2 oranges. Reserve.

2.  Wash your cranberries, then wash, peel, core and slice your apples. Reserve.

3. Combine the apple slices, the cranberries, the orange juice and zest, the maple syrup and the Demerara sugar into an oven-proofed dish, then roast for 1:30-1:45 minutes (or until most of the water has evaporated) in a medium oven (about 160°C), stirring from time to time to make sure the apples don’t dry out.

4. Divide your pastry into two balls and roll both of them to a £1 coin thickness.

5. Line a pie/tart dish with greaseproof paper, then lay one of your pastry sheets into the dish.

6. Add the apple and cranberry mixture, then top with the second pastry sheet. (I might have gone a little star-cookie-cutter crazy with this one beforehands…)

7. Glaze the top of your pie with the egg yolk, then bake for 35-40 min at 180°C.

8. Eat immediately with a couple of scoops of creamy vanilla ice cream ( if you’re making this ahead of time (and you should!), all you need to do is pop it into a low oven (120°C) for 5-10 minutes before serving).

What’s your go-to holiday dessert?