Classic Cherry Pie
The only fruit pie I need on my Thanksgiving table
One of my absolute favorites. Thanksgiving dessert tables aren’t complete without a cherry pie in my (correct) opinion. It’s the perfect way to break up the apple and pumpkin fall craze - which I thoroughly enjoy that phase (see my adorable Apple “Pumpkin” Puffs and/or the fluffiest Pumpkin Cake Roll for proof) - and adds a sweet but tart balance to your dessert line-up.
I also just love the color. I didn’t grow up in a cranberry sauce family so this is just a lovely, deep pop of red (yes, that fake cherry red isn’t realistic really, for the most part, it’s… fake). Top it with a lattice crust and you have yourself a centerpiece-worthy dessert.
The sugar on top is optional but the extra crunch just adds a lovely texture to finish off an amazing pie. So if you’re looking for a new dessert to add to your Thanksgiving line-up or simply want to swap out canned cherries for a homemade filling, this recipe is for you.
Ingredients:
CRUST
4 cups flour
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ cup butter
8 tbsps cold water
FILLING
4 ½ cups frozen sweet cherries
⅔ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
3 ½ tbsp lemon juice
TOPPING
1 egg
1 tsp turbinado or granulated sugar, optional
Directions:
In a bowl, stir together your flour and salt. Using two butter knives, held against each other with one in each hand to form an “X,” cut your butter into your dough, with the knives pulling away from each other and back in, until you have a sand-like consistency.
Add in your water (I like to put a few ice cubes in a glass before filling it with cold water to make sure it’s extra cold), stir together, and then compress the dough into two even balls. See notes below if you have a food processor!
Place one of your dough balls between two large pieces of parchment paper, and roll to ⅛” thickness - making sure your dough is an even thickness throughout.
Gently peel the parchment back from the top layer, lay it back onto the dough, flip all of it over, and repeat with the bottom (now top) layer of parchment.
Removing one side of the parchment, carefully lay that side face down into a 9-inch pie dish and remove the top layer of parchment
Carefully shift the dough to ensure it is lying flat within the pan and along the sides. If you have more than an inch excess, use a butter knife to cut away an extra and save for later.
Tuck under the remaining excess dough around the edges, to form your crust
Make a peace sign with your pointer and middle fingers on one hand, and place it along the edge of your crust. With the pointer finger of your other hand, pointing toward the center of the peace sign, pull back the dough in the center of your fingers. This will form a crimp. Repeat along the edge of your crust until complete.
Place your pie dish with the crimped crust in the fridge for 15 minutes
Roll out your other remaining dough ball - reusing your parchment paper - and place the flat sheet into the fridge to chill
Preheat your oven to 425F
Once your dough in the pie dish is chilled, remove from the fridge and prick the bottom and sides of your crust with a fork to prevent the crust from puffing when you bake. Crinkle a piece of parchment paper and lay it carefully in your dish before pouring in your baking weights.
Bake your chilled crust for 10 minutes, remove from the oven, and carefully remove the parchment paper and baking weights before returning to the oven to bake an additional 6 minutes, until the inside bottom of your crust is no longer wet looking. Cool completely before adding your filling
In a medium pot, Stir together your cherries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice and place over medium-high heat. Stir continuously until lightly thickened, which will be roughly around the time the mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat immediately and pour into a bowl to cool to room temperature
Once your blind baked crust and your cherry filling have cooled, remove your second sheet of dough from the fridge, peel off one side of the parchment, place it back on the dough, flip, and remove the other side of parchment completely. Using a knife, pizza cutter, or pastry wheel, cut the dough into 1-inch strips
Pour your cherry filling into the base of your crust, smoothing it out so evenly distributed, and then make your lattice. Vertically place 4-5 strips of your cut dough on top of your filling, leaving an inch of space in between each strip. Turn your pie 90 degrees and then lay one strip along the far left edge in an over-under technique, laying the strip over the first strip of perpendicular dough, lifting the next strip and laying it under it, over the next, etc until you reach the end. Repeat, leaving an inch of space in between each new strip, with your remaining dough, next time starting under the first row so you are constantly alternating your over-under from row to row. You will have some strips left over, save them for later!
Use a butter knife to cut off any excess pieces of dough from your lattice
In a small bowl, beat together your egg with a splash of milk (or water) until there are no gloops of egg whites. Brush it gently over your lattice crust and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes
Preheat oven to 400
Bake your cherry pie for 20 minutes and then drop to your oven temperature to 375F. Briefly remove your pie from the oven and cover the edges of your crust (not the lattice!) with foil, to protect it from burning. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes, until your lattice is nicely golden in color
Remove and cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing
Enjoy!
If you love this recipe, leave a comment below and tag @accentgolden in your bakes on social!
Notes:
If you have a food processor, pulse together your flour and salt before adding in your cubed cold butter. Pulse until combined and then add in your cold water and give a few more pulses. Pour into a large bowl and press the dough together with your hands to form a ball. Ever since I started using my food processor for dough making, I rarely go back to doing it manually as it saves so much time!
If you need to add more water to your dough, do it one tablespoon at a time. Four tablespoons should be enough, you might just need to press and squeeze it together a little more. You want the dough to be on the dryer side versus too wet.
This crust has a lot of butter, it’s crucial that you place it in the fridge before you bake it so you don’t risk your butter melting out of your crust as soon as it hits the oven.
For the blind bake, I use uncooked rice as I feel it fits in all the nooks and crannies best. Once the rice cools completely after the bake, you can store it in a container and reuse it for your next bake! You can’t cook it as rice after this but you can use it on repeat for baking!
Make sure your dough is no thicker than ⅛”, if it’s too thick it will be overwhelming and likely won’t bake properly in the time allotted. Also, be sure not to roll it too thin or it will be harder to handle and will likely burn
Your cherry mixture will thicken more as it bakes in the oven so don’t over thicken it when you cook it in the pot. The pot is really to bring the ingredients together, cook off some of the excess water, and start the thickening process before cooling and placing it in your pie shell
