Sour Cherry Apple Pie Food

APPLE-CHERRY LATTICE PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar and salt in a food processor to combine. Add one-quarter of the butter; process until it disappears into the flour, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining butter and pulse until the mixture looks like cornmeal with bean-size bits of butter. Combine the water and vodka and drizzle over the flour mixture. Pulse until the dough just starts coming together but stop before it gathers into a ball. Divide evenly between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and gently pat each into a disk, using the plastic wrap to help you. (If the dough seems dry with large bits of butter, turn it out onto a work surface and use the heel of your hand to press the dough together.) Wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
• Make the filling: Peel and thinly slice the apples; toss in a bowl with the lemon juice. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add the apples and cook, tossing occasionally, until juicy, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat; fold in the cherries, flour, extract and allspice. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Roll out 1 disk of dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate; refrigerate until ready to fill. Place a piece of parchment paper on an inverted baking sheet. Roll out the remaining disk of dough into a 12-inch round, transfer to the parchment and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer the dough (on the parchment) to a work surface. Using a fluted pastry wheel or a chef's knife, cut the dough into 14 to 16 half-inch-wide strips. Weave into a lattice on the parchment. Slide back onto the baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Pour the filling into the crust. Gently slide the lattice off the parchment and onto the fruit, adjusting as needed; trim the excess dough if needed, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhanging dough under itself. Brush the lattice with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Refrigerate the pie 30 minutes.
• Position a rack in the lowest position of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Place the pie on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until the crust is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to a rack and let cool at least 2 hours.

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.

APPLE AND DRIED-CHERRY LATTICE PIE

Steps:

• Make filling:
• Peel, halve, and core apples and cut into 1/4-inch slices. In a large bowl toss apples with granulated sugar, dried cherries, dried cranberries, or raisins, lemon juice, cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons flour. In a small bowl mix together with fingertips brown sugar, butter, and remaining 2 tablespoons flour.
• Make pastry dough:
• In a large bowl stir together flour and salt. With a pastry blender or fingertips blend in shortening, blending until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing to incorporate until mixture forms a dough. On a work surface smear dough in several forward motions with heel of hand to develop the gluten in flour and make dough easier to work with. Scrape dough together to form a ball and halve, flattening halves to 1-inch-thick disks. Wrap 1 disk in plastic wrap and reserve. Roll other disk into an 11-inch round and fit into a 9-inch pie plate (1-quart capacity), leaving 3/4-inch overhang. Spoon apple mixture into pastry and top with brown sugar mixture. Cover filling loosely with plastic wrap.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Halve reserved dough. On a lightly floured surface roll 1 half into a very thin 11-inch round and with a fluted pastry wheel cut round into 1 3/4-inch-wide strips. Repeat procedure with remaining dough.
• Weave dough strips in a closed lattice pattern over pie and trim lattice edges flush with rim of pie plate. Roll overhanging dough from bottom pastry up over edge of lattice top and crimp decoratively. Brush lattice top with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
• Put sheet of foil on lower rack of oven. Bake pie in middle of oven 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until top is golden and filling is bubbling. Cool pie on rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

APPLE AND TART CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Position rack in lowest third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Stir first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Mix in apples, dried cherries and preserves.
• Roll out 1 dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Brush inside and top edge of crust with glaze. Spoon filling into crust. Roll out second dough disk on floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut out small hole from center. Arrange dough over filling. Seal top crust to bottom crust at edge. Trim double overhang to 3/4 inch. Fold under, crimp edge. Brush crust (except edge) with glaze.
• Place pie on baking sheet. Bake until apples are tender; cover crust with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Store at room temperature.)

APPLE-CHERRY CREAM CHEESE PIE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt; cut in butter 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 in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., Preheat oven to 425°. For filling, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla until blended. In a large bowl, toss apples with flour, pie spice, salt and remaining sugar. Stir in cherries., On a lightly floured surface, roll one half of dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim pastry even with rim., Spread cream cheese mixture onto bottom of pastry. Add apple mixture; dot with butter. Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top., Bake 45-50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cover top loosely with foil during the last 10-15 minutes if needed to prevent overbrowning. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate leftovers.

CLASSIC SOUR CHERRY PIE WITH LATTICE CRUST

Steps:

• For crust:
• Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until small pea-size clumps form. Add 5 tablespoons ice water; mix lightly with fork until dough holds together when small pieces are pressed between fingertips, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough together; divide into 2 pieces. Form each piece into ball, then flatten into disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Do ahead Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly before rolling out.
• For filling:
• Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Whisk 1 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Stir in cherries, lemon juice, and vanilla; set aside.
• Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim dough overhang to 1/2 inch. Roll out second dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Using large knife or pastry wheel with fluted edge, cut ten 3/4-inch-wide strips from dough round. Transfer filling to dough-lined dish, mounding slightly in center. Dot with butter. Arrange dough strips atop filling, forming lattice; trim dough strip overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold bottom crust up over ends of strips and crimp edges to seal. Brush lattice crust (not edges) with milk. Sprinkle lattice with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
• Place pie on rimmed baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake pie until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown, covering edges with foil collar if browning too quickly, about 1 hour longer. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. Cut into wedges and serve with vanilla ice cream.

TWICE-BAKED SOUR CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• To make dough: in bowl of a food processor pulse together flour and salt just to combine. Add butter and pulse until chickpea-size pieces form. Add 3 to 6 tablespoons ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until mixture just comes together. Separate dough into 2 disks, one using 2/3 dough, the other using the remaining. Wrap disks in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days) before rolling out and baking.
• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place larger dough disk on a lightly floured surface and roll into a 12-inch circle, about 3/8-inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Line dough with foil and weigh it down with pie weights. Bake until crust is light golden brown, about 30 minutes.
• While pie crust is baking, prepare filling. In bowl of a food processor, combine sugar, tapioca and cinnamon (use more tapioca if you prefer a thicker, more solid filling, and less if you like a looser, juicier filling). Run the motor until tapioca is finely ground. Place cherries in a bowl and add sugar and tapioca mixture. Drizzle in kirsch or brandy and toss gently to combine.
• When pie crust is ready, transfer it to a wire rack to cool slightly and reduce heat to 375 degrees. Remove foil and weights. Scrape cherry filling into pie crust.
• Place smaller disk of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it 3/8-inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter (or several round cookie cutters of different sizes) to cut out circles of dough. Arrange circles on top of cherry filling in a pattern of your choice.
• Brush top crust with cream and sprinkle generously with Demerara sugar. Bake until crust is dark golden brown and filling begins to bubble, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer pie to a wire rack to cool for at least 2 hours, allowing filling to set before serving.