Recipes

Summer Cherry Pie

The too-short season for fresh cherries has grocery stores brimming with these delicious red rubies. Whip up a cherry pie for cents on the dollar with this great recipe. This recipe can also be easily adapted for peaches and nectarines. This recipe makes two complete pies. Half the recipe to make one pie.

Ingredients:

For filling:

1 package Tapioca, instant (1.5 oz) or cornstarch (2 tbsp) (for a looser consistency, instead use 2 tbsp all purpose flour)
1 pinch salt
1 lb (2 cups) granulated sugar
1 oz. lemon juice (juice of one lemon), plus zest
up to 1/2 cup cold water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
3 lb. fresh cherries, pitted
1 oz. unsalted margarine

For pie dough:

5 cups pastry flour
3 and a half cups shortening
1 cup plus 6 tbsp cold water
4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
egg wash

For dough:

1. Add flour to mixing bowl. Rub or cut in shortening; for flakier dough, rub until shortening pieces are the size of peas.

2. Dissolve salt and sugar in the water.

3.Add the water to the flour mixture and mix only until water is absorbed.

4. Shape the dough into two disks, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least four hours (this is what makes pie crust very flaky).

5. Roll out one of the disks to fill two bottom pie pans, to approximately 1/4 of an inch. Prick with a fork all over and cover with foil. Add weights (such as dry beans) and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Then remove the beans and return pie crust to the oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned.

6. Stir the tapioca, salt and sugar together. Add lemon, flavor extract, cinnamon, and cherries. Depending on how juicy your cherries are, add approximately 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water to thin the mixture. Allow the filling to stand for 30 minutes.

7. Fill baked pie shells with filling. Dot the filling with unsalted margarine.

8. With second pie dough disk, roll lattice strips and cover the pie filling.

9. Brush the lattice and rims of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with extra sugar.

10. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes. (If the rims start to get too brown, cover the rims with aluminum foil.)