Cherry Pie

I LOVE cherries! I think they're my favorite part of summer. But living in the city they can be a bit expensive to buy in large enough quantities to bake a pie. If you have a cherry tree in your backyard or know someone who does, consider yourself lucky and whatever you do, don't take it forgranted! You can imagine my excitement when my cousin who lives in the Okanagan, sent me home with a HUGE bowl of fresh cherries right off her tree. :) Of course I had to try making a cherry pie. I used a recipe from my Anna Olson cookbook - Fresh. Loved the recipe so much! Now I just need to perfect my pie making skills (I have only made one other pie before, so I have lots to learn!).

Cherry Pie

Recipe by Anna Olson, p. 86 in Fresh

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4-8 tbsp cold water

• 6 cups pitted tart cherries, fresh or frozen
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• pinch ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 egg mixed with 2 tbsp cold water, for brushing
• sugar and ground cinnamon for sprinkling

Method:

1. For the crust, combine the flour with the salt. Cut in the butter and shortening until dough has rough, crumbly texture. Add lemon juice and 4 tbsp of the water and blend just until the dough comes together. If needed, add more water 1 tbsp at a time to bring the dough together. Divide the dough in half and shape into two disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
2. For the filling, bring cherries, sugar and cinnamon up to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring often. Whisk cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold water and then stir it into the cherries. Cook until thickened, then remove from heat and let cool.
3. Preheat oven to 400F.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the disks into a circle large enough to fit a 9-inch pie pan. Line the pan with pastry and trim th edges. Spoon cherry filling into the shell. Roll out the second piece of dough to fit on top and cut a 1-inch hole in its center. Brush pie with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Place pie pan on a baking tray and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375F and continue baking until the crust is a rich golden brown. Cool the pie for an hour before slicing.

The recipe turned out to be so delicious. I made it again a few weeks later, but I made a double batch of the filling. I made one pie with half of the filling and then used the other half of the filling to fill a chocolate cake! It was delicious. This pie filling would even be good to top vanilla icecream with. What are some of your favorite pie recipes? Would love to hear from you! In the meantime, happy baking!