#78: Recipe for Best of Show Cherry Pie

It starts with planting a tree.

You may have a favorite family recipe for cherry pie. Mine starts with planting a tree.

Today’s bloom on my young Montmorency cherry tree. Last year the birds ate the entire harvest! (Photo by me)

So I picked some from my neighbor’s tree. We trade cherries for pie. (Photo by me)

Some days life is just the pits. (Photo by me)

Best of Show Cherry Pie

Makes one 9-inch deep-dish pie

Ingredients

1 recipe double crust pie dough (Recipe at link below)

#75: How to Make and Roll Dough

• 6 cups (680–900 grams), about 1 1⁄2–2 pounds, pitted sour pie cherries, drained, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don’t thaw or you will have soup)

• 1 cup (200 grams) sugar

• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

• A very small grating of nutmeg

• 1⁄3 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon Cointreau or other orange liqueur

• 3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

• 1⁄2 tablespoon butter for dotting

• 1–2 teaspoons sugar, for sprinkling on top of the pie

Egg Wash

• 1 egg white plus 1 tablespoon water, fork beaten

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).

2. Place the sour pie cherries, sugar, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt, Cointreau, and quick-cooking tapioca into a big bowl, and mix until the fruit looks like it is coated with coarse wet sand.

3. Pour the filling into a chilled dough and dot the top with butter. Place the pie in the fridge while you roll out the top dough.

4. Lay top dough over the fruit, and cut 5 to 6 vents in it, or cut dough strips and make a lattice top. Trim excess dough and crimp or flute edges.

5. Bake for 20 minutes at 425°F (220°C). Reduce the heat to 375°F (190°C) and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove the pie from oven and lightly brush some of the egg white wash over the top of the pie and lightly sprinkle with sugar. Place the pie back in the oven and continue baking at 375°F for another 10 to 15 minutes. It’s done when you see steady bubbling coming through the vents or lattice.

6. Remove the pie from the oven and cool completely before cutting so that the filling has a chance to set up.

Crust circles on cherry pie. Photo from Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings, and Life. )Photo Credit: Andrew Scrivani)

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Thank you so much for clicking on the little ❤️ below. It fills my heart, too.