Cherry pie is one of the best parts of summer, especially when it's topped with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. The ice cream melts down into the sweet cherry glaze, creating an irresistible gloopy contrast of hot sweet filling, icy cream, and tender flakes of buttery dough. It's hard to imagine a more glorious summer dessert.
This recipe calls for sour cherries. While you can sub in the big sweet cherries you can find in the supermarket, the tart Montmorency cherries (also called tart cherries or pie cherries) really make the pie. Every June, we drive up to Cadwallader Mountain Farms in Mountain Park, New Mexico and pick about sixteen pounds of these bright red beauties. I make a giant batch of cherry pie filling and put it up in quart jars so we can enjoy it all year long. While the pitting and cleaning process seems interminable, it so worth it to pull out a jar of cherry goodness in December and bake up a summer pie when it's cold outside.
This recipe will make one regular pie. For deep dish, increase filling ingredients by 1/2.
Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup ClearJel
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1 1/3 cups cold cherry cider or tart cherry juice
¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 TB lemon juice
3 1/3 cups pitted sour cherries fresh or two 14.5 ounce can sour cherries, drained *
egg wash (one egg whisked with 1 TB water or milk)
Pie sugar for decorating (optional)
*If using canned sour cherries, drain the juice and use it in the glaze in place of the cider or juice. Your filling will not reach the deep red of the fresh cherries, but you can use red food dye to brighten up the color.
Instructions:
In medium saucepan, whisk the ClearJel, sugar, and cinnamon together. Whisk in the cold cherry cider and almond extract. Over medium heat, stir constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and cook one additional minute. Fold in the cherries carefully until evenly mixed and cook for 1 minute. Set aside.
After crust has hydrated in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (if you are using homemade crust), roll out bottom crust and drape it over your rolling pin. Lay it into your pie dish and trim it to about 1/2 inch from edge. Set in freezer for 10 minutes.
While crust is in freezer, roll out the top crust. Cherry pie is best with a lattice crust but if you decide to do a solid crust instead, make sure you cut in vents and a pie hole in the center.
Remove bottom crust from the freezer and pour in your cherry filling. Put on your top crust. Brush the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle pie sugar over top. Place in refrigerator while oven is preheating.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
After 10 minutes, remove the pie from the refrigerator and place on a baking sheet. Place in hot oven for 15 minutes. Then lower oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking the pie for an additional 30-40 minutes until the crust is browned and the filling is bubbling out the vents or holes.
Remove pie from oven, place on a baking rack, and allow to cool for 3-4 hours. It's tempting to eat it hot, but the filling will be runny if you don't let it set up after baking.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.
If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to tell us in the comments below! And if you made it, we'd love to see your beautiful pie photos!
Comments