Majestic Cherry Pie Food

TART CHERRY LATTICE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, combine sugar and flour; stir in cherries and extract. , On a lightly floured surface, roll one half of the pastry dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate. Add filling; dot with butter., Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; cut into 1-1/2-in.-wide strips. Arrange over filling in a lattice pattern. Trim and seal strips to edge of bottom pastry; flute edge. Cover edge loosely with foil., Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 40-50 minutes. Remove foil. Cool on a wire rack.

COUNTRY FAIR CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt; stir in cherries until blended. Let stand for 30 minutes. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. , Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom crust; trim pastry even with edge. Fill with cherry filling. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cover edges during the last 20 minutes to prevent overbrowning., Meanwhile, roll out remaining pastry to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut into 12-14 large stars and 16-18 small stars; place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Place stars randomly over cooled pie. Sprinkle edges of pie with confectioners' sugar.

JUICY CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix flour and salt; cut in butter and shortening until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., Preheat oven to 375°. For filling, place cherries in a large bowl; drizzle with lemon juice and almond extract. In a small bowl, mix sugar, flour and cinnamon. Sprinkle over cherries and toss gently to coat., On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 dough portion into a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim crust even with rim. Add filling., Roll remaining dough into a 1/8-in.-thick circle; cut out stars or other shapes using cookie cutters. Place top crust over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. If desired, decorate top with cutouts., Bake 40 minutes. For topping, brush top of pie with milk; sprinkle with sugar. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 15-20 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack.

HOMEMADE CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Prepare either pie crust recipe through step 5.
• In a large bowl, stir the cherries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, and almond extract together until thoroughly combined. Cover filling and place in the refrigerator as you roll out the pie dough or for up to 24 hours.
• On a floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of chilled dough (keep the other one in the refrigerator). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9×2 inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. Use a slotted spoon to spoon and spread the cherries into the crust. Reserve the juice for the next step. Refrigerate pie, uncovered, as you reduce the juices in the next step.
• Pour the few Tablespoons of leftover juice into a small saucepan over low heat. Cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until juice has slightly reduced and thickened. Cool for 5 minutes, then pour over cherries in filling. Do your best to gently toss together- doesn't have to be perfect. The reduction will harden and thicken as a result of mixing with the cold cherries. This is normal and it will melt again in the oven. Dot the pieces of butter on top of the filling.
• Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
• Remove the other disc of chilled pie dough from the refrigerator. Roll the dough into a circle that is 12 inches diameter. Using a pastry wheel, sharp knife, or pizza cutter, cut strips of dough- I cut four strips 2 inches wide and two strips 1 inch wide. Carefully thread the strips over and under one another, pulling back strips as necessary to weave. Press the edges of the strips into the bottom pie crust edges to seal. Use a small paring knife to trim off excess dough. Flute or crimp the edges with a fork.
• Lightly brush the top of the pie crust with the egg wash. Sprinkle the top with coarse sugar, if using.
• Place the pie onto a large baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Keeping the pie in the oven, turn the temperature down to 375°F (190°C) and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown and the filling juices have been bubbling up around the edges or through the lattice/vents for at least 5 minutes. **After the first 20 minutes of bake time, I recommend placing a pie crust shield on the crust's edges to prevent it from over-browning too quickly.**
• Remove pie from the oven, place on a cooling rack, and cool for at least 3-4 hours before slicing and serving. Filling will be too juicy if the pie is warm when you slice it.
• Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

CLASSIC CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• For the crust: Blend shortening, flour, powdered sugar, butter and salt. Cut flour until it resembles cornmeal. Beat egg, blend in vinegar and water, and sprinkle over flour mixture. Toss with fork. Chill before rolling, about 1 hour. Makes 2 (9-inch pie crusts).
• For the filling: In a large size bowl, mix together all ingredients and pour into the pie shell. Cover with top crust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

MACAROON CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. cast-iron skillet or deep-dish pie plate. Trim to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges. Bake 6 minutes; set aside. , Drain cherries, reserving 1 cup juice. Set cherries aside. In a large saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; gradually stir in cherry juice until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir until thickened, 2 minutes. , Remove from heat; stir in cinnamon and food coloring if desired. Gently fold in cherries. Pour into crust. Cover edges loosely with foil. Bake at 400° 20 minutes., Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine first 6 topping ingredients. Stir in coconut and almonds. , Remove foil from pie; spoon topping over pie. Reduce oven to 350°; bake until topping is lightly browned, 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 1 hour. Chill 4 hours or overnight before cutting.

CLASSIC BING CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Press the bottom pie crust into a pie pan.
• Combine cherries, sugar, tapioca, lemon juice, and almond extract together in bowl. Refrigerate until cherry filling begins to set, about 10 minutes. Stir filling again; chill until flavors combine, about 10 minutes.
• Pour the filling into the bottom half of the pie crust; cover with top crust, crimp the edges to seal, and dot with butter. Cut vents into the top with a sharp knife.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes; rotate the pie 1/4 of a turn. Continue baking until the crust is golden brown, about 20 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.