Cherry pie – it’s my love song to summer. The cherries in the market have been gorgeous, and I was feeling unusually ambitious on Saturday morning, so I thought I’d give it a go. My hands were stained, cherry juice was running down my arms, and splattered all over the table like a scene out of Dexter, but it was totally worth it. My efforts resulted in two lovely pies – one for us, and one for my neighbor who loves anything cherry!
The crust:
- 2 2/3 cups of all purpose flour
- 2 sticks of very cold butter, cut up into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup ice water
Put flour, butter, and salt in a food processor with a metal blade pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water until the dough begins to clump together. Divide into three discs and place in separate plastic bags, and work dough into a flat disc. Refrigerate for an hour. (This recipe make 3 – 9″ pie shells, two for the pie and one for the freezer.)
The filling:
- 4 1/2 cups fresh cherries, pitted
- 5 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water
- sanding sugar for topping
1. Pit the cherries – for an easy method go here, and place in a large bowl. Add the sugar, cornstarch, salt, vanilla – stir to combine.
2. Roll out dough to fit a 9″ pie plate, ease pastry onto plate. Scoop the cherries into the pastry, dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry, using a cookie cutter to cut a hole for the steam to vent. Place dough over the pie, tuck under crust and crimp. Brush crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Put pie on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400º oven for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 350º and bake for another 40 to 45 minutes. Let pie cool on a wire rack before serving.
