Cherry Pie

My family and I went to pick cherries at a local orchard this past weekend, and they are absolutely delicious. I used some of them to make this cherry pie, and I have to say I think it may be the best cherry pie I have ever had. I know that the freshly picked cherries were one of the main reasons this pie was so good, but the crust was also wonderful (it’s my favorite pie crust recipe- I love how you don’t have to chill the dough before rolling it out). I think I may even be making another pie tomorrow, unless I find another recipe to use up more of the cherries in our refrigerator!

Cherry Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 rolled-out Basic Pie Dough rounds (see recipe below)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 cups pitted fresh cherries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

1. Carefully transfer one rolled-out dough round to a 9-inch pie dish (roll the dough up onto a rolling pin to transfer). Pat the dough firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Trim the edge of the dough, leaving 3/4 inch overhang. Set aside in a cool place until ready to use, along with the second dough (I left the second dough disk in the refrigerator and didn’t roll it out until I was ready to use it for the lattice top).
2. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Place the cherries in a large bowl and sprinkle the sugar mixture over; toss to distribute evenly. (I didn’t use quite all of the sugar mixture, because it seemed like too much.) Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. Immediately transfer to the dough-lined pan.
3. Use the other dough round to make a lattice top (see directions below).  Trim to about 3/4 inch overhang and crimp the crust edges together using your fingers.
4. Refrigerate the pie until the dough is firm, about 20-30 minutes. Meanwhile, place oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.
5. Bake the pie for 15 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking until crust is golden and filling is thick and bubbling, 40-50 minutes longer. Check the pie after it has baked for about 25 minutes total, and cover crust edges with foil to prevent over-browning. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Makes one 9-inch pie

Basic Pie Dough

(Double this recipe to make 2 dough-rounds for a double-crust pie.)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 3 tablespoons very cold water

Directions:

Place flour, sugar and salt in food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add in the butter, pulse a few times until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together. Gather the dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured work surface. Flatten into a disk and roll to a round about 12 inches in diameter.

Recipes adapted from Williams-Sonoma: Pie and Tart

How to make a lattice-top:

1. Start with a round of dough rolled out to about 12 inches in diameter.  Slice the dough into strips, about 1/2 inch thick:

2. Place strips of dough across the pie in the horizontal direction only.  Be sure to use some of the longer strips and some of the shorter, saving the rest to go across the pie in the other direction.  Fold every other strip back halfway, and place a long dough strip across the center of the pie vertically:

3. Return the dough strips to their original position, and fold the dough strips that were left in place the first time back.  Place a second vertical strip across the pie.  Continue in this manner to finish creating a lattice on the right side of the pie, then follow the same method on the left side.