Cherry Pie
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I’ve made some delicious pies with bright and bold flavors lately (see coconut cream and key lime), but there’s one main problem. Those pies only have one crust, on the bottom, and in both cases it was made of graham cracker crumbs. Now, I love a graham cracker crust as much as the next person, but I’ve been seriously craving some honest-to-goodness flaky, buttery pie crust. Top and bottom preferred. I’ve done a lot of baking with blueberries and strawberries, and have even dabbled with raspberries and blackberries, but aside from the cherry crisp that I made last summer, my cherry baking has been lacking. Given my urge to eat pie crust and my desire to delve into some cherry baking, I decided that it was high-time I made a cherry pie.
I love pretty much all fruit, including cherries, however on my quest to make my first-ever cherry pie I quickly found out what a cherry novice I am. I’m very familiar with the Bing cherry (nice, dark and sweet – a favorite for snacking), as well as the Rainier cherry, which is more yellowish-orange in color, but still sweet. I figured I would pop into the store, buy a bag or two of cherries, and be on my merry pie-making way. Not so fast. I hit up almost 10 (yes, 10!) cookbooks scoping out cherry pie recipes and every.single.one called for tart or sour cherries. Whaaaaat?! I’m obviously in a cherry bubble. So, I went to multiple stores looking for fresh sour cherries. No dice. Then, I looked for frozen sour cherries. I couldn’t find those either. Finally, in one of the books they laid it on me that sour cherry season lasts only a couple of weeks, and so it’s likely that jarred or canned cherries would need to be used for a good cherry pie. I headed to the canned fruit aisle and found canned sour/tart cherries that were packed in water, which is what I used for this recipe.
Along with needing pie crust in my belly and wanting to bake with cherries, I thought I was about due to re-visit the beauty that is a lattice-top pie crust. I’ve only made one once before, waaaaaay back in the dark ages of 2008 when I made a blueberry pie, but I just adore the look. It feels like a throw back – retro, vintage, very 1950′s and Donna Reed – when you had the extra few minutes to do something fancy with the top of your pie. It really does only take a few extra minutes of time and isn’t difficult (I included a series of step-by-step photos below in the recipe), but gives a pie that extra kick of pizzazz. Who doesn’t love pizzazz?
This pie is packed with cherries, which are sweetened just the right amount, kicked up a bit with a splash of almond extract and thickened with cornstarch. It’s a quintessential summer pie and would be perfect served with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or a tower of whipped cream (or both!).
One year ago: Angel Food Cake
Two years ago: Monster Cookies
Three years ago: No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Oatmeal Cookies
Cherry Pie
Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 50 to 60 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
For the Pie Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces
7 tablespoons vegetable shortening
10 tablespoons ice waterFor the Pie Filling:
1¼ cups granulated sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
6 cups sour cherries, pitted (See note below.)
¼ teaspoon almond extractFor the Topping:
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon granulated sugarDirections:
1. Make the Pie Dough: Process the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add the shortening and process until the mixture has the texture of coarse sand, about 10 seconds. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture; cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse crumbs, with butter bits no larger than small peas, about ten 1-second pulses. Turn the mixture into a medium bowl.
2. Sprinkle 8 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. With a rubber spatula, use a folding motion to mix. Press down on the dough with the broad side of the spatula until the dough sticks together, adding up to 2 tablespoons more ice water if the dough will not come together. Divide the dough into 2 balls, one slightly larger than the other. (If possible, weigh the pieces; they should weigh 16 ounces and 14 ounces.) Flatten the larger piece into a rough 5-inch square and the smaller piece into a 4-inch disk; wrap separately in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days, before rolling.
3. Remove the dough from the refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable). Roll the larger piece of dough to a 15x11-inch rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick; transfer the dough rectangle to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. With a pizza wheel, fluted pastry wheel or paring knife, trim the long sides of the rectangle to make them straight, then cut the rectangle lengthwise into 8 equal strips.
4. Next, roll the smaller piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 12-inch circle. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate. Working around the circumference of the pan, ease the dough into the pan corners by gently lifting the edge of the dough with one hand while pressing into the pan bottom with the other hand. Leave the dough that overhangs the lip of the pie plate in place. Place the baking sheet with the strips of dough in the freezer and the dough-lined pie plate in the refrigerator; chill for 30 minutes.
5. Make the Pie Filling: Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, place a rimmed baking sheet on it and preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt; set aside. Place the cherries in a large bowl and stir in the almond extract. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the cherries and using a rubber spatula, gently mix together until combined.
7. Turn the cherry mixture into the dough-lined pie plate, remove the strips of dough from the freezer (if they are too stiff to be workable, let stand at room temperature until softened slightly but still very cold) and top with a lattice design as described below:
8. Lay 4 strips of dough, evenly spaced, across the pie horizontally. Fold the first and third strips back, then place a strip of dough slightly to the right of the center, perpendicular to the others. Unfold the first and third strips over the perpendicular strip and fold the second and fourth strips back. Add a second perpendicular strip. Now unfold the second and fourth strips. Repeat this process with 2 more perpendicular strips (you will have 4 strips of dough running in each directions).
9. Trim the lattice strips and crimp the pie edges. Lightly brush the lattice top with the water and sprinkle with sugar.
10. Lower the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Place the pie on the baking sheet and bake until the crust is set and begins to brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Rotate the pie and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees; continue baking until the crust is deep golden brown and the juices bubble, 25 to 30 minutes longer. Cool the pie on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before serving.
Note: Sour cherries are only season for a couple of weeks during the summer for most places, so if you blink you could miss them. If you can't find fresh cherries, you can substitute frozen (not thawed), as well as jarred or canned sour/tart cherries. If you buy them jarred or canned, you will need 72 ounces total; be sure to drain them very well and pat them dry with a paper towel before using them in the recipe.
(Recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated)
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I had no idea there were sour cherries either! My hubby would love this, he’s a big fan of cherry pie
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For such a classic, I’ve never even tried cherry pie! Your recipe looks fabulous. Yum!
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I’ve never made cherry pie before, but something about its American/retro nature really appeals to me! Seeing as it’s cherry season I think I might have to give it a go!
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Hi there!
I, too, live in the Pittsburgh area and the only place I’ve ever been able to find fresh sour cherries is from a friendly vendor at the North Side Farmer’s Market. They are open on Friday’s only from 3:30 to 7:30 pm. I was thinking of heading over there today, actually, to scope them out! Good luck!
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Michelle on June 29th, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Oooh, thanks for the tip, I’ll have to check it out! Stay cool!
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Simple Sweet and All American!! Love it!
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We are lucky enough to have a sour cherry tree in our yard. The season was a little early this year here in Nebraska, so we picked our cherries a few weeks ago. I’ve never seen sour cherries fresh in the grocery store, so I’m glad I can just pull a bag out of the freezer whenever we need our fix. Cherry pie is a favorite at our house, along with sour cherry jam and pie bars.
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As a child, I always asked for cherry pie for my birthday, instead of cake. (And even though my birthday is in September.) And for the life of me I can’t remember what kind of cherries my mother used; I just know it wasn’t canned filling. This pie screams “Happy Birthday” to me! (And reminds me of my mom, the best pie baker.)
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Fresh Montmorency Cherries are the all time best for cherry pies, in my opinion.
I would love to plant one of these trees, but then we move! My dad has a couple of these trees, but unfortunately they did not produce fruit this year because a freeze we had right after they bloomed.
But if you can get some fresh Montmorency cherries, I guarantee you will fall in love with them!
Marla
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That is one darn good looking pie. I love the lattice crust! I don’t think mine would turn out quite that pretty – lol.. Have a good weekend!
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That is one beautiful pie! Love it!
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GORGEOUS pie Michelle! I think making a pie look that beautiful would take me hours beyond hours. Cherry pie is my favorite kind, too
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Delicious pie!! We LOVE cherries & yes, tart or sour cherries are really hard to find. So hard, in fact, that when we recently visited Michigan (tart-cherry capitol of the world!) we stocked up – our entire large cooler was full of bags of tart frozen Montmorency cherries (8 bags)!! Now I have the perfect use for them.
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Will you come teach me to make pie? Pretty please:)
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Michelle on June 29th, 2012 at 3:47 pm
Yes! That would be fun!
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I love cherry pie! And yours looks fabulous! I have yet to make a sour cherry pie because they are so difficult to find, though a few orchards around me have them for a couple of weeks. They are not at all tasty eaten as is and have many more flaws than Bing or Rainier, but they do bake up nicely in cakes and muffins. I have found that Bing and Rainier cherries also make excellent pies. Love that you use butter and shortening in your crust; together they make the best crust.
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This pie is absolute perfection!
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Thank you for the note regarding sour cherries. I didn’t know…
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That looks amazingly good. I lived in Oregon for many years. I miss it.
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Such a classic! I love cherry pie!
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Sour cherries? Never heard of them! I love learning about new fruits
Thanks!
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We just bought sour cherries at the farmers market last weekend. They are in season now
The pie looks great! You did a beautiful job with the crust.
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Sour cherries are not something we find fresh here in Quebec (Canada) although I would LOVE to try this recipe! (I’ll try with canned cherries I guess) It looks amazingly good!
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Hey brown eyed baker…I love your recipes! I just shared your link on my blog after making three of your terrific cupcake recipes. Please visit my blog sometime for some great ideas and recipes as well! Happy graceful living!!!
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Thanks so much for this, I LOVE cherry pie and the step-by-step lattic guide is a great idea!!
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It is definitely pie season, what great photos.
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Very nice! I got a great deal on some fresh sweet cherries and made a pie recently. It definitely see the wisdom in using tar cherries; mine was more like blueberry pie.
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I’m so jealous of your crust, it’s perfect! There will definitely be cherry pie involved on my 4th of July!
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Looks wonderful!!!
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Hello Michelle
Thanks for the cherry pie recipe.
I’ll create one for sure, my kids are gonna like it
If you don’t mind, can you submit your cherry pie photo in http://www.foodporn.net ?
It’s a food photography site full of all DIY food pictures from members around the world. submit by yourself and let me know when you did, so I can share it.
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This looks fantastic! I just attempted my first pie a couple weeks ago, and the crust didn’t come out as one would hope. Been looking for different crust recipes to try, and this one looks so beautiful in your photos – will be trying this one soon!
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didn’t realize there was such a thing as sour cherries… seeing as I’ve never heard of them, I will be on the prowl now to find them!
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Stunning pie! Cherry is one of my favorites. I have actually made pie with bing cherries in the past… just cut back on the sugar, and it will work out beautifully!
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That is perfection!
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Cherry is my husband’s favorite type of pie and this is the exact brand of canned cherry I have been using for almost 20 years. It will be in the canned fruit section of your grocery, not in the baking/pie filling section. I just use the recipe on the back side of the label, which uses flour for thickener. I leave out any red food coloring (which some versions call for) but also use almond extract. Dead easy and always gets rave reviews from people who really like cherry pie.
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My husband and I were just in Door County, WI for a few weeks–the pinky-finger sticking out into Lake Michigan, if you will. This is tart cherry country out here–they’re everywhere! Pies, salsa, barbeque sauces, mustards, wines, and, of course, pie fillings. The weather was rough on them this year, though. If you’re ever looking for a tart cherry haven, though, this is a GREAT place to be!
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America’s Test Kitchen just came out with a new recipe for cherry pie using sweet cherries! See: http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=25348
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Michelle on November 21st, 2012 at 8:33 am
Oooh, thank you Annie!
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10 tablespoons butter??????
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Michelle on November 21st, 2012 at 8:36 am
Yes, it’s a double crust.
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I have made this pie twice and it has been a huge hit. I used jarred sour cherries and just cut out the pie crust into shapes for the top (stars for Christmas and poka-dots for my sisters birthday) Suburb pie, the combination of cherries with the Almond is truly delicious!
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Can a differrent fruit filling be substituted for the cherries, to make say a raspberry pie?
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Michelle on February 20th, 2013 at 2:37 pm
Hi Kathryn, I usually stick to substituting the same types of fruit – i.e. berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries), stone fruits (peaches, cherries, plums, apricots), etc. You could try raspberries here, but I’m not sure how it would work out.
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