Sweet Cherry Pie and Flaky Crust

 What better way to ignore winter then to bake a bright, juicy cherry pie.  After the holidays and spiced everything, I like the idea of fresh flavors that bring me back to the summer.  Long days at the beach, sandy toes and salty waves seem so far away now that the winter has declared her presence. But for today, let's remember the sunshine and know that we are getting closer to those hot summer days.  

This pie is my dad's favorite and so this one is for him!

Let's start with the filling.  In season, I would buy fresh cherries and pit them, but since it's January, you should be able to find some great organic frozen, pitted cherries.  The only way to make this pie taste like it came from a package is if you buy that canned cherry pie filling.  Please. Don't do that. You deserve better! 

Cherry Pie Filling

2 lbs fresh or frozen sweet red cherries
1 cup sugar, raw or granulated*
zest of one lemon
2-3 TBS lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 TBS cornstarch
2 TBS unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1 egg plus water for egg wash
raw sugar for sprinkling, optional

*If cherries are super sweet, add 3/4 cup sugar first, mix and then taste.  Adjust sweetness to your preference.


1. Combine cherries, sugar, lemon juice, zest, extracts and cornstarch.  Mix well and set aside.  

Now, on to the pie dough.  You didn't think this would start with any pre-made frozen thing did you? Relax.  This isn't hard at all. It takes some practice, but if you follow these steps, you'll find that pie crust is not as intimidating as you might have thought. 

This recipe yield enough for an 8- or 9-inch single pie crust.  You can also use this recipe for a quiche.  I used a 9-inch pie plate for this one. 

For a double crust pie, I'd recommend doing this recipe two separate times instead of doubling the recipe and dividing up the dough.  It's so simple to put together, doing this twice is no big deal. Promise.

All Butter Flaky Pie Dough

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
10 TBS very cold unsalted butter (cut into TBS sized pieces)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking powder
2-5 TBS ice water

I was taught by a brilliant chef how to execute this perfectly.  You're welcome!  All butter and no shortening makes for the best tasting pies.  This recipe is such a keeper.

Easiest, cleanest and quickest method is to use a food processor.  Also, less "hands" is best until you get really fast at this.  

You don't want warm hands prematurely melting the butter.  Practice makes perfect, but once you get this down, you'll be able to do this in your sleep. Sort of. 

1. In a food processor bowl fitted with metal blade, add flour, salt and baking powder. Pulse to combine.

2. Add all cold butter pieces.  Pulse 2-3 times (count a full "1 Mississippi" each time). Time to check. Carefully look to see if the butter is still in large pieces. You want the butter to be about cranberry sized. If the butter is still too big, give it another pulse. When the size is right, it's time for the water.

Here's a good gauge for when you can start adding water:

3. Add 2 TBS of ice water.  Pulse 2 times. Remove the top of food processor and carefully (there's a blade in the bowl!) take a small amount of flour/butter/water mixture between your fingers.  Press it together. Does it stay together or is it crumbly?  If crumbly, add 1 more TBS of ice water and repeat. (Pulse 2 times, remove top, check dough.)

Not ready:

Ready:

4.  When dough is ready, have a large piece of wax paper or parchment paper (11x14ish) on your counter.  Carefully pour dough mixture from processor onto wax paper. Notice the texture.  Mixture will look like cornmeal with tiny flecks of butter throughout.

5. With opposite corners of the paper, bring to the center and press down on the mixture.  Repeat with the other two corners of the paper and continue to do with until your mixture is a cohesive disc shaped dough.  Place disc in refrigerator for 45 min up to 1 day before rolling out.  

See the little bits of butter through the parchment? Perfect!

PIE ASSEMBLY AND BAKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 425°, adjust oven rack to middle position.

1. Roll out each pie crust on a lightly floured surface to 12-inch round.  See PIE DOUGH RULES for tips on rolling out the dough. Keep top of dough refrigerated until ready to place on pie.

2. Add filling to dough lined pie plate and dot filling with 2 TBS cut up butter before adding the top of pie crust.

3. Mix egg and water and brush mixture over top of the crust before placing pie in the oven.  You can sprinkle raw sugar over top of the egg wash if you like.

4. Bake pie for 20 minutes at 425°, then lower temperature to 375°and bake for about an hour longer.  Crust will be deep golden brown and filling will be bubbly. If the edges are getting too brown, take some aluminum foil and carefully cover the edges midway through baking.

PIE DOUGH RULES:

1.  Only use cold ingredients, most especially, the butter and water.  You don't want the butter to melt at all before putting your pie in the oven.  The liquid molecules in the butter are released as your pie bakes and these lovely steam pockets are what causes dough to be flaky.

2.  When your dough is ready, it will resemble cornmeal.  That's what you're looking for.  And, always better to slightly under mix then over mix.

3.  NEVER, EVER pulse or mix your ingredient until it forms a ball. Ever. If you work the dough to this stage, any hopes of a flaky crust are done. 

4.  When ready to roll out the dough, flour your board/clean counter top and rolling pin. Roll from the center outward. Quarter turn the dough and repeat.  Use a bench scraper to help turn the dough. Keep rolling and quarter turning until you reach the desired thickness.  When I'm pretty sure it's close to the thickness and circumference, I place my pie plate in the center of the dough and carefully lift the sides of the dough.  You want the dough to come up slightly over the top of the plate since the dough will shrink a bit in the oven.  This will assure you have enough dough to crimp the edge or at least not shrink too much if you use a tart pan. 

5. You can lattice the dough or use cookie cutters to make a more festive pie top.  I used star shaped cookie cutters for this one. Or you can simply roll out a standard top pie crust.  Just be sure to cut a few slits on the top to help the steam escape while baking. Lattice tops and more decorative tops to pies look pretty and are functional as well.

Here's to the sunshine and my sweet dad.

Enjoy!

MJM