Foolproof Cherry Pie Food

FOOLPROOF CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Have ready and refrigerated one batch of foolproof all-butter pie crust.
• Remove the dough from the fridge 10 minutes before you begin rolling, as dough that is too cold will crack. Lightly flour a rolling pin and your work surface. Set the dough in the middle of the work surface and - beginning from the center of the disc - roll the dough away from you in one firm and even stoke. After each stroke, rotate the disc a quarter turn clockwise and roll again. Lightly sprinkle more flour on the work surface, on the dough, and on the rolling pin as needed. You want to use just enough to prevent the dough from sticking. As your disc of dough becomes larger, be sure not to overstretch the center of the dough. Continue rolling until the dough is 3 inches longer than the pan you are using, and around 1/8" to a 1/4" in thickness.
• Carefully fold the dough in half and lay it across one side of a buttered pie pan, placing the seam of the dough in the center of the pan. Gently unfold the crust, then use your hands to fit the dough down into the pan, making sure there are no gaps between the dough and the pan. Burst any air bubbles with a fork. Do not pull or stretch the dough here!
• Using kitchen scissors, trim the dough overhang to 1 and 1/2 inches, measuring from the inner rim of the pan.
• Cover the crust with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 48 hours. You may also freeze for up to 2 months
• Have ready and refrigerated one batch of foolproof all-butter pie crust.
• Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside until needed.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pie dough into a 12-inch circle.
• Using a pizza cutter or pastry roller, slice the dough into 10 strips (the width of the strips is totally up to you. I prefer medium strips so I usually slice them between an inch and an inch and a half wide). Lay the strips on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate until needed.
• Combine the cherries, cornstarch, sugar, salt, vanilla, almond extract, and lemon juice in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture starts to thicken - about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 2 minutes before removing from the heat. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and cool to room temperature.
• In a small bowl, beat together the egg and water until well combined. Set aside until needed.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F).
• Remove the crust and lattice strips from the refrigerator.
• Using a rubber spatula, scrape the cherry pie filling into the pie crust shell. Top with cubes of butter.
• Lay 6 of the strips parallel on top of the filling, leaving about 1/2-inch between each strip. Fold back every other strip, then place another strip of dough perpendicular to the strips. Unfold the folded strips so they lay over the perpendicular strip. Continue this layering process, weaving the strips over and under each other.
• Trim the edges of the strips, leaving about 1/2 inch overhang. Roll the excess dough up so it's tightly sitting on the edge of the pie plate, then crimp the edges to secure the strips with the bottom pie crust.
• Brush the edges of the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar, if using.
• Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees (F) and continue baking for 50 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling.
• Place pie plate on a wire rack and cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

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.

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.

EASY CHERRY PIE (FROZEN CHERRIES/EXTREME LOW FAT)

Steps:

• Set oven to 425 degrees.
• Prepare a glass 8-inch pie plate.
• Roll out one pastry into about a 9-1/2-inch circle.
• Gently fit into bottom of the pie plate.
• In a bowl combine the well-drained cherries, 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and tapioca; toss gently to combine.
• Spoon the cherry mixture into the pie crust.
• Top with remaining pastry.
• Press edges of bottom and top pastry together, then trim and flute.
• Cut a couple of steam vents in the top pastry.
• Brush the top of the crust with half and half cream, then sprinkle with 2-3 teaspoons sugar.
• Place the pie on a baking sheet to catch spills.
• Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.
• Reduce heat to 375 degrees, continue to bake for about 45-50 minutes longer or until crust is golden and the pie is bubbly (cover edges with foil if necessary to prevent browning).
• Cool pie on a rack, before slicing.

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.

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.

IMPOSSIBLE CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Grease a 10-inch pie plate.
• Beat all ingredients, except pie filling and streusel, until smooth - 15 seconds in blender on high or 1 minute with hand beater.
• Pour into pie plate.
• Spoon pie filling evenly over top.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make streusel: Cut 2 Tablespoons firm margarine or butter into 1/2 cup Bisquick baking mix, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon until crumbly.
• Top pie with streusel.
• Bake about 10 minutes longer until streusel is brown; cool.