Perfect Cherry Pie Food

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.

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 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.

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:

• 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.

LATTICE-TOP CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar and salt in a food processor. Add 1 stick cut-up butter and the shortening; pulse until it looks like coarse meal. Add the remaining 1 stick butter; pulse until it is in pea-size pieces. Add the egg yolk and 6 tablespoons ice water and pulse until the dough begins to clump together, adding up to 2 more tablespoons ice water if necessary. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface, divide in half and press into 2 disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine the cherries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and juice and almond extract in a large bowl. Toss until the sugar is dissolved and the cherries are well coated; set aside.
• Roll out one disk of dough into a 12-inch round on a floured surface. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate and trim, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Pour in the filling.
• Roll out the other disk of dough into a 12-inch round. Trim the edges, then cut the dough into 3/4-inch-wide strips using a fluted cutter or a knife. (You should have about 12 strips.) Lay half of the strips over the pie, about 3/4 inch apart. Fold back every other strip. Lay another strip of dough perpendicular to the existing strips, then fold the dough back over the new strip. Repeat, folding back every other strip and weaving in new ones, to form a lattice. Trim the strips, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhanging dough (strips and bottom crust) under itself, pressing to seal. Crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork, if desired.
• Brush the lattice and crust edges with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Refrigerate the pie until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, put a baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and preheat to 400˚ F.
• Put the pie on the hot baking sheet and reduce the oven temperature to 375˚ F. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling, 55 to 65 minutes. (Tent with foil if the crust is browning too quickly.) Transfer to a rack and let cool completely before slicing.

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.