Red Cherry Pie Food

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.

RED CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Drain Cherries, reserving 1 cup juice; set cherries aside.
• Combine 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan; stir mixture to remove lumps.
• Stir cherry juice into sugar mixture.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened.
• Remove from heat; stir in cherries, 1/2 cup sugar, butter, and almond extract.
• Stir in food coloring, if desired.
• Line a 9" pieplate with half of pastry.
• Pour cherry mixture into the pastry shell.
• Cover with top crust.
• Trim edges of pastry; seal and crimp edges.
• Cut slits in top of crust for steam to escape.
• Bake at 425° for 45-55 minutes or until golden.
• Yield: one 9" pie.

CHERRY-RED RASPBERRY PIE

Steps:

• For the crust: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours and the butter powder, if using. Add the shortening and using a pastry blender, cut in the shortening until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside. In a small bowl, beat together the egg, vinegar, salt, and water. Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and combine with a fork, just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for several hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• For the filling, drain the thawed raspberries, reserving the juice in a measuring cup. Drain the cherries and add enough of the juice from the cherries to make 1 cup liquid total.
• In a saucepan mix the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in the juice and add the cherries, and simmer over medium-low heat until filling is thick and clear, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Very gently fold in the raspberries. Set aside.
• Using a little more than 1/3 of the dough, roll it out between 2 pieces of plastic wrap to a size that will overlap the edge of a 9-inch glass pie dish. Fit dough in pie dish, trimming off excess.
• Add the filling. Roll out the remaining dough to fit the top. Place the dough over the filling, cut off the excess, and crimp edges to seal the dough. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Cut 3 or 4 slits for steam vents.
• Place on the bottom shelf of the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, and then move to the middle shelf, reduce the heat to 350 degrees F, and continue to bake until the crust is a golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes more. Cool completely before cutting.

CHERRY-RED RASPBERRY PIE

Steps:

• Pie Crust - Combine the flour and the cake flour. Cut in shortening until it resembles coarse crumbs. Beat together remaining ingredients and stir into flour until it is JUST incorporated. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
• Roll out about 1/3 of the dough between 2 sheets of wax paper and line pie dish. You will need a top as well.
• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Filling - Thaw frozen raspberries and pour juice into a One-cup measuring cup. Add the reserved cherry juice to make one cup of liquid.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cornstarch, butter, salt, and one cup of the raspberry/cherry juice. Stir.
• Add cherries and cook over medium heat until thick and clear. Remove from heat.
• Add melted butter to the raspberries and very gently fold raspberries into saucepan.
• Pour into pastry-lined pie dish. Add top crust. Seal edges, moisten top with hot milk and sprinkle with sugar. Cut steam vents.
• Bake 350° for about 45 minutes.