I have never made a cherry pie before, in fact, I have made very few pies in total. When I was in culinary school we made hundreds around the holidays. So, apple and pumpkin were the extent of my pie repertoire. I love fruit desserts and make many crisps, tarts and galettes, just not pies. The reason is that my family just doesn’t like pie. I think it has to do with the crust component which usually are soggy or too buttery for our liking. So when Sally’s Baking Addiction had a cherry pie as the July challenge I was not sure I would make one. Not because I was worried about the difficulty of making one but I did not have anyone to eat it! But I really wanted to take the challenge seriously and stretch myself as a baker so I forged ahead, and am so glad I did.
As usual, Sally provided wonderful directions as well as tasty recipes for both the crust and the filling. I began by making her pie crust recipe which is much like others I have seen and used as she mixes shortening and butter for the fats and stresses the importance of keeping all the components very cold for a flaky crust.
The flour and salt are combined, then the cold butter and shortening are cut in with a pastry cutter until the fats are the size of small marbles or peas.
The cold water is added, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together into a ball.
The dough is separated into two portions, discs are formed and wrapped in plastic. The dough is placed in the refrigerator for, at least, two hours.
While the dough rested the filling was prepared. No cans of pre made cherry pie filling allowed. I used my cherry pitter to remove the pits from 12 oz. of Bing and 12 oz. of Rainier Cherries.
This yielded approximately 4 1/2 cups of halved, pitted cherries. I followed Sally’s recipe with the exception of using vanilla sugar instead of regular, granulated and I added the zest of the lemon used for juicing, just couldn’t help myself! The addition of the almond extract was really delicious! The cherries, flavorings, corn starch and sugar rested in the refrigerator while the oven preheated and I rolled out the pie dough.
I made sure to roll the bottom crust thin since we don’t really like a thick crust and then filled the shell with the cherry mixture. Sally’s directions specified that the extra liquid from the cherries should not be added to the pie to prevent a soggy crust, but don’t throw the liquid away! It is delicious as a topping for ice cream or as a simple syrup for drinks!
The second disc of dough was rolled out and cut into strips which were woven together to form the lattice crust. The pie went into a 400°F for 20 minutes, then the temperature was reduced to 375°F and baked for an additional 30 minutes.
It came out smelling wonderful and looked pretty good too.
Sally recommended waiting 3 hours before cutting, to let the pie set up.
My husband and I were pleasantly surprised at how much we liked it! The fruit to crust ratio was perfect for us! I think I will try other fruit pies in the future and will be sure to keep Sally’s crust recipe on hand for next time! Another great result from Sally’s Baking Addiction!
Oh, and it was yummy with ice cream!
Invisible-No-More 
Sounds lovely! My opinion is that people don’t like pies because they have been over-exposed to diner-style pies that have syrupy sweet filling that isnt fresh at all. My husband never liked pies and I surprised him one year with a fresh blueberry pie and he was quite surprised at hoe fresh and berry-like the filling was. This looks just beautiful! I would give it a try but I think I need to get one of those pitting tools first 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you’re right, the fresh cherries are really amazing, and yes he cherry pitter is worth the 12 bucks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I grew up on pumpkin, sweet potato, and apple pies. Never had any of this fancy stuff.
Yum!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Give it a go Fred- it was pretty quick to put together, especially with the cherry pitting tool 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This looks wonderful and so tasty!! 🙂 I never knew a cherry pitter existed and actually have never come across one. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know, but the pitter has changed my life!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for the tip Dee dee! I googled it, found one and ordered it. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sad about the women’s finals 🙁
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I knew it was going to be a difficult match…..I wasn’t home to see it will see later tonight. We had a lovely day at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
LikeLiked by 1 person
OMG did I spoil the finals for you!!!😩
LikeLike
Absolutely not, once we left the museum I googled on my phone to see who won. 🙂 . I wanted Venus to win but I knew Gabine would play a hard match against her. But Gab is a really good player…..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, thank goodness 😅 I would hate to spoil it for you- I am really excited for tomorrow at 4am too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
4 am hahaha…. I get up these crazy hrs too, when Rafa is due to play morning hrs to watch him 😊😊😊😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am excited to see tomorrow’s match 🙂
LikeLike
Wow! I would love a piece of that pie 😃💖
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you make it, you can have the whole pie 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t cook much besides toast…and maybe eggs or instant noodles 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you might be selling yourself short! I am sure you can do anything you truly desire 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww…that’s so sweet of you…thank you 🙂💕
LikeLike
I love fresh cherries and this pie looks so good. Gorgeous pic too.
LikeLiked by 1 person