Perfect Cherry Pie Recipes

BEST CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice.
• Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt.
• Combine cherry juice, food coloring, almond extract and lemon juice.
• Add to dry ingredients, mixing well.
• Add cherries and mix well again.
• Add butter and let stand for 15 minutes.
• Pour cherry mixture into pie crust and finish top with lattice work pie crust.
• Bake for 50 to 55 minutes.

PERFECT SOUR CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Press the bottom pie crusts into 2 pie pans.
• Combine cherries, 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Let sit until sugar begins to draw out the cherries' juices, about 10 minutes. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat; simmer until the juices thicken and become translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in butter and almond extract until well mixed. Pour into the bottom half of the pie shells. Cover with top crusts, crimp the edges to seal, and cut vents into the top with a sharp knife.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crust is golden brown, 45 to 55 minutes.

PERFECT CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Mix flour, 2 Tbs. sugar and salt in a food processor. Add 8 Tbs. frozen butter and pulse 4 times, 1 long second each time. Drop shortening and cream cheese into flour mixture; pulse another 4 or 5 times, 1 long second each, until fats are the size of peas and fine gravel.
• Dump mixture into a medium bowl; rub through clean fingertips to blend. Stir in water with a rubber spatula until dough clumps form. Press dough with your palm to form a ball, then divide in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap, pressing to form thick disks. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• Adjust oven rack to lowest position and place a pizza stone or four 9-inch quarry tiles (from a hardware store) on rack to form an 18-inch square. Preheat to 400 degrees.
• In a large saucepan, cook 1 cup cherry juice, 1 cup sugar, potato starch and a pinch of salt over medium-low heat; stir with a rubber spatula until a very thick paste forms. Scrape paste into cherries in a bowl. Add almond extract; stir to combine.
• Set a dough disk on a floured work surface. Roll into a 14-inch circle. Fold in half and quickly lift into a 9-inch Pyrex pie plate (not deep-dish). Unfold. Fit dough into pie plate so it is not stretched in any way. Refrigerate.
• Roll remaining dough disk into a 12-inch circle. Remove pie shell from refrigerator, add fruit filling, and dot with 1 Tb. butter. Fold dough circle in half; quickly lift onto filling and unfold. Trim all around to 1/2-inch beyond lip of pie plate. Roll overhanging dough under with fingertips; flute.
• Set an 18-inch square of heavy-duty foil on tiles or pizza stone. Set pie on foil and bake until crust just starts to color, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, brush with egg white, and sprinkle with 1 1/2 Tbs. sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes longer. Bring foil up around pie to loosely cover edges. Bake until filling bubbles, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack.

FRESH CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. In a large saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; gradually stir in cherry juice until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add cherries, cinnamon, nutmeg and extract; set aside., In a large bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in shortening until crumbly. Gradually add cold water, tossing with a fork until a ball forms. Divide dough in half so that one ball is slightly larger than the other. , On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger ball to fit a 9-in. pie plate. Transfer dough to pie plate; trim even with edge of plate. Add filling. Roll out remaining dough; make a lattice crust. Trim, seal and flute edges. If desired, brush with egg wash., Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°; bake until crust is golden brown, 45-50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

MARTHA'S SOUR CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Make the filling: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss together the cherries, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla in a bowl.
• Make the crust: Roll out 1 disk pate brisee to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Pour in filling; dot with butter. Refrigerate while making top crust.
• Roll remaining disk pate brisee to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out 4 to 5 holes using a 3/4-inch round cookie cutter or pastry tip. Place on top of pie.
• Trim bottom and top crusts to a 1-inch overhang using kitchen shears and press together to seal around edges. Fold edges under; crimp as desired. Freeze for 20 minutes.
• Brush crust with egg wash. Bake pie on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet set on the middle rack, until pie is bubbling in center and crust is golden, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. Transfer pie to a wire rack and let cool before serving.

HOMEMADE CHERRY PIE WITH FRESH CHERRIES

Steps:

• In the bowl, put the all-purpose flour, a pinch of salt, the powdered sugar, and the cubed cold butter.
• With your clean hands, start mixing the butter with the rest of the ingredients. You want to break down the butter until you get small pea-sized pieces, it doesn't matter if some are bigger than others. Be careful not to overwork the butter. These bits of un-mixed butter will help to create the flakiness of the crust. You can make this step with a pastry cutter or a food processor.
• Once you achieve said consistency, add the egg yolks and mix.
• Add tablespoons of cold water one by one, mixing in between. You want to achieve a consistency that is not too wet. It needs to stay barely together when pressed and should not stick to your hands. It's best to add the very cold water one tablespoon at the time, and check if the dough needs more water or not. Remember you can always add, but never take out.
• Keep mixing until you form a ball of dough, you should end up with a "clean" bowl.
• Divide into two balls and form each into a disk, wrap it in cling wrap and let it cool in the fridge for 30 minutes. This will allow the flour to hydrate and drop the temperature of the dough a bit.
• Crusts can be made ahead and frozen up to 8 weeks. Defrost for 2-3 hours or until dough is soft before rolling and shaping.
• Start by preheating your oven at 400 F /200c.
• Prepare the cherries by removing the pits, for this you can use a cherry pitter, or cut them in half and remove the pits.
• In a large bowl combine the pitted cherries, cornstarch, sugar, vanilla & almond extract, and lemon juice. Set aside.
• Roll out one of your pie dough disks: on a floured surface roll it until you reach a 1/4 inch (13mm) inch thickness as it follows: Roll a bit up and down and then turn 90º to one side. Roll again in the same direction and then turn again 90º. Keep rolling until you obtain the desired thickness.
• Roll the other dough disk, cut it in strips with a knife or a pastry wheel cutter, and set it aside.
• Line the pie pan with the first rolled crust and adjust the dough making sure there are no air bubbles underneath. Do not worry about the excess dough you are going to use it to create a nice decoration on the border.
• Fill the pie pan with the cherry mixture, discarding any excess liquid formed in the bowl.
• Create the lattice top crust by placing 4 dough strips on top of the pie pan leaving some space between them. Fold the second and third strips up & place two more strips on the opposite direction creating a crossed pattern and repeat all around the pie. The idea is to obtain weaving effect, by having always one strip up, one down.
• Press together the excess bottom crust with the end of the strips and crimp the edges with your fingers, or use a fork to press them together. Whisk the egg whites, then brush the surface of the crust.
• Bake for 15 minutes at 400°F, then reduce the heat to 350°F or 180C and bake for 30-40 minutes depending on your oven. Keep an eye on the crust, so it doesn't get too browned, if it starts to get two brown move it to a lower rack or place a piece of foil on the pie.
• Once fully baked, let the pie cool so that the filling will fully set. Sprinkle some powdered sugar to garnish and serve with vanilla ice cream.

CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Place cherries in medium saucepan and place over heat. Cover. After the cherries lose considerable juice, which may take a few minutes, remove from heat. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cornstarch together. Pour this mixture into the hot cherries and mix well. Add the almond extract, if desired, and mix. Return the mixture to the stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and let cool. If the filling is too thick, add a little water, too thin, add a little more cornstarch.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Use your favorite pie dough recipe. Prepare your crust. Divide in half. Roll out each piece large enough to fit into an 8 to 9-inch pan. Pour cooled cherry mixture into the crust. Dot with butter. Moisten edge of bottom crust. Place top crust on and flute the edge of the pie. Make a slit in the middle of the crust for steam to escape. Sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake for about 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

PERFECT CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Thaw cherries until most of the free ice has disappeared. Drain off the juice; measure and stir it into mixture of sugar, tapioca and cornstarch in saucepan. Heat rapidly until thickening is complete. Boiling is not necessary. Set aside to cool.
• Add cherries and extract to cooled, thickened juice. Pour filling into pastry-lined 9" pie pan. Cut vents and adjust top crust; flute edges.
• Bake in hot oven 425ºF for 30 to 35 minutes, or until nicely browned. For a brown undercrust, bake on lowest oven shelf.

CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• First, make the pastry. Tip the flour, 50g almonds, butter, sugar and ¼ tsp salt into a food processor. Blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Beat the egg yolks with 2 tbsp cold water, drizzle over the flour and butter mixture and blend again until the dough starts to clump together. Tip onto a work surface and knead briefly to bring everything together into a smooth dough. Divide into two pieces and shape each lump into a puck shape. Wrap and chill for 30 mins. Will keep, wrapped and chilled, for up to two days.
• Remove the stones from the cherries - either cut them in half and pop out each stone, or use a cherry stoner. Toss the cherries with the jam, sugar and cornflour until there are no floury patches.
• If the pastry has been chilled for longer than 30 mins, bring it out of the fridge 20 mins or so before rolling, as it will be very firm. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Dust a surface with a little flour, then unwrap one piece of pastry. Carefully roll it out until it's large enough to line the base and sides of a 25cm pie dish, skillet pan or cake tin. The pastry will be very delicate, if any cracks appear when rolling, squash them back together and keep going. Lift the pastry over the rolling pin and into the dish - don't worry if it breaks, just patch it up by pushing it into the corners and up the sides and closing any holes. There should be a little overhang around the edges. Sprinkle the reserved 2 tbsp almonds over the base, then spread the cherries on top to fill the pie in an even layer.
• Roll out the remaining pastry so it's large enough to cover the pie. Brush a little beaten egg white around the pastry edge. Top the pie with the pastry lid as it is (piercing a hole in the centre for the steam to escape), or make a lattice topping. To do this, cut the pastry into strips, however wide you like. Arrange half the strips in one direction over the pie, leaving a few centimetres gap between each. Weave the remaining strips under and over these in the opposite direction, creating a lattice pattern. Squash the pastry together around the edge, then trim the excess with a sharp knife.
• Crimp the edge for a neat finish, or use any pastry scraps to make shapes to run around the edge - we used a piping nozzle to cut small circles. Stick them on with a little more egg wash, then brush the whole pie with a thin layer of egg wash. Sprinkle over a little caster sugar. Bake for 55 mins-1 hr, checking the pie after 40 mins. The edges may brown more quickly than the centre, if this happens, wrap a little kitchen foil around the edge to protect it.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 1 hr. If you cut it too soon, the fruit juice will be very runny and flood the pie. Best served just warm with cream or ice cream.