A good piece of pie is the perfect dessert. A sweet yet tangy fruit filling encased in a buttery pastry and topped with a dollop of cool vanilla bean whipped cream is summer eating at its best. What perplexes me, however, is that most people I’ve talked to say they don’t like pie. They like fruit. They like breakfast pastries, but they don’t like pie. I can only guess that it is the pie crust itself that has been the culprit in turning off so many potential pie lovers. Most commercially made pie crust can be very disappointing. On the other hand, the mere thought of making pie pastry can scare the living daylights out of some. That old saying however, “if you want something done right you have to do it yourself” is very true in this case. I implore you to make your on pie pastry. Then make it again. And again. And again. You’ll see that your finger tips will start to know when the dough is just right. You’ll begin to meditate to the rhythm of the rolling pin. And your heart will skip a beat when you’ve fluted the edges, brushed it with a glaze, and sprinkled on Demerara sugar. So go out and practice. Start with this cherry pie. It’s perfect.
I got the recipe for the filling from an old pie baking book I stole from my sister’s house. My bad, Amanda! It’s Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook (1965 edition). The pie pastry recipe is one that I use for sweet pies. You can find that recipe here and my video tutorial here.
Begin by pitting about 3 cups of fresh, tart cherries. I used a metal, #4 piping tip to help remove the pit. Simply press the bottom of the cherry onto the narrow end of the tip and out pops the pit!
Then in a saucepan over medium heat, stir together cherry juice (that you’ve collected from pitting the cherries), a little cornstarch, a little instant tapioca, and a little sugar until it thickens up.
Pour the mixture over the pitted cherries, and gently stir it all together.
Dump the filling into your pie shell.
Place the other pie pastry over top, brush with an egg glaze, sprinkle with sugar, and cut out a cute little vent. Bake the pie in a 425 degree F. oven for 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 350 degrees F., and then bake for another 30 minutes, or until the crust is a lovely golden brown.
Cool the pie on a wire rack for 3 to 4 hours.
- 3 cups Fresh, Tart Cherries
- ¼ to ½ cup Tart Cherry Juices (collected after pitting)
- 5 tsp. Cornstarch
- 2 TBS Instant Tapioca
- 3 TBS Sugar
- 1 TBS (14 g) Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces
- Pie Pastry for 2-crust pie
- Egg Glaze (Egg Yolk mixed with 1 TBS of Milk)
- 1 TBS Demerara Sugar
- Roll out the pie pastry for the bottom crust on a lightly floured surface. Gently place it in the pie pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F., and place a large baking sheet on the middle shelf.
- Pit the cherries, and place the pitted cherries in a sieve over a bowl. Collect as much juice as you can and then mix it with the sugar, cornstarch, and tapioca in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the mixture has thickened a bit, gently stir it together with the pitted cherries in a large bowl.
- Pour the filling in the chilled pie shell, and then dot the top with pieces of the unsalted butter. Roll out the top crust on a lightly floured surface, and then carefully place it over the pie. To finish the look, trim and flute the edges, brush with the egg glaze, sprinkle with sugar, and finally cut out a decorative vent. Well done! You did it! Now put that bad boy on the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake it for 30 minutes. Have a foil ring ready just in case the edges darken more quickly than the rest of the pie. After 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 350 degrees F. and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Cool the pie on a wire rack. I implore you not to cut a slice until after about 3 to 4 hours of cooling. The juices in the filling need time to thicken, and slicing too soon will leave you with a runny mess.
- Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
- Pie pan
- Rolling pin
- Sieve
- #4 Piping tip (to pit the cherries)
- Sauce pan
- Pastry brush (to brush on the egg glaze)
- Large baking sheet
- Cooling rack
