The first recipe I ever posted to this site was one for sour cherry pie [1]. It remains one of my favorite recipes and probably one of the least viewed posts ever. Not even one little comment! I was writing to myself back then before I had all of you wonderful people to share recipes with.
One of the strange parts of maintaining a food blog is trying to balance the desire and need to try new recipes and my love of old favorites. So, you’re going to need to bear with me today as we go back into the archives. This recipe for sour cherry pie is worth resurrecting and making with whatever sour cherries are still floating around out there. It is incredibly delicious and made even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Some other recipes from the early days that are worth checking out (also, note how much better my photos have become over the years!): Walnut Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies [3], Tomato Soup [4], and my personal summer favorite- pickles [5]!
Lots of fun stuff headed your way next week including the next stop on the road trip (hint: cheese) and some summer acquisitions.
Sour Cherry Pie (adapted from a recipe in June 2008 Bon Appétit)
Crust:
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 5 tablespoons ice water
Filling:
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 cups whole pitted sour cherries
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon milk
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 two pieces. Form each piece into a ball, then flatten into disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Can be made up to two days ahead. Keep chilled. Let soften slightly before rolling out.
Filling:
Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425° F. Whisk 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 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Place pie on rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375°. 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.