Until last month, I had never made or eaten a cherry pie. I have, however, always thought that they were so pretty and I always loved the idea of cherry pies so I don’t know why I have never made one. As an Australian, cherry pie is not something that has ever crossed my path. My mum didn’t make it growing up nor have I ever seen it in a café or bakery. There is something very American about cherry pie and as I type the words ‘cherry pie’ over and over again, the song lyrics ‘sweet cherry pie’ are stuck in my head again like it does every time I so much as think about cherry pie.
I was inspired to make a cherry pie at Christmas when my husband, my mother-in-law and I went to one of our favourite restaurants, Easy House (on the Gold Coast) for Christmas lunch. If you haven’t had yum cha for Christmas lunch, I highly recommend it. Anyway, after lunch, the lovely owners very kindly gave us a big box of juicy cherries so I decided to make a pie.
I later realised exactly how many cherries you need for a pie and after we had eaten a few and given a few to my husband’s cousin, we were very short so I went to the shop on Boxing Day and bought 2 bags of frozen cherries. A kilo (2.2 pounds)of fresh cherries at Christmas in Australia would make for a very expensive pie while frozen only cost me $8 and they already had the pits removed so it is an easy choice.
This recipe can be used for any kind of berry pie. I also made a blueberry pie which was delicious and the blueberries look so pretty!
My husband was also pie inspired and he baked for the first time ever and made a blueberry pie. A few days later he baked another pie and gave it to friends. Turning up at someone’s door with a freshly baked pie is a pretty good feeling and according to them, it was all gone by the next day.
- Pastry Dough
- 380g (13.4oz) plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 170g (6oz) vegan butter (partially frozen and cut into cubes)
- 150ml cold water
- 50g (1/4 cup) (1.7oz) castor sugar
- Pie Filling
- 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of pitted cherries (frozen or fresh) (if frozen – thaw before using)
- ¼ cup corn flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- Vanilla
- DOUGH
- Place flour and salt into food processor
- Add half the butter and pulse until combined.
- Add remaining butter and repeat.
- It won’t be looking like dough yet, just coarse flour.
- Pour into a large bowl.
- Add cold water gradually while stirring with a butter knife until a ball starts to form.
- Use your hands to form a ball and then cut in half. Roll each half into a ball. Flatten each ball and wrap in cling wrap and then refrigerate for 1 hour.
- PIE FILLING
- Pour your pitted cherries (and any juice) into a large saucepan or frypan and put over medium to high heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until it starts to thicken. This might take about 5 minutes. You don’t need to stir the whole time but stay nearby and make sure that it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
- When it is cooked, place in a container and refrigerate until cool.
- After at least 1 hour, remove one of the balls of dough from the fridge. Roll on a floured surface until about 1mm thick and large enough to fit your pie dish with about 1inch excess. To place dough into the oiled dish, roll the dough onto a floured rolling pin and then roll it onto the dish. Make sure there are no air bubbles and the dough is flat against the dish.
- Crimp the edges of the pie in a design of your choice. There are lots of videos on YouTube to show you show to do it. Cover with plastic and place back in the fridge for an hour.
- Roll the remaining ball of dough and cut enough long strips. Place on baking paper on a tray or chopping board. Cover with plastic and place in fridge for one hour.
- Pre-heat oven to 225°C (437°F ).
- After one hour (and when the filling is cool) take the base out of the oven. Fill the pie base with filling and then start to add the strips. Add all of the vertical strips and then to add the horizontal strips, peel back every second vertical strip and add one horizontal strip then peel back the alternate vertical strips when you add the second horizontal strip and so on. Keep going until all strips are on the pie.
- Add Pie to oven. After 15 minutes, reduce temp to 175°C (347°F). If the edges are brown at this time, cover them with strips of foil to avoid burning.
- Cook for approximately 45 minutes or until the dough is brown and the filling is starting to bubble up.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on bench before placing in fridge to completely cool.
One of the things that makes a Cherry Pie so pretty is that lattice top. The first couple of pies I made, I just cut the strips with a knife but then I went in search of a pastry cutter and I used a ruler to measure the strips so everyone was a uniform size. You don’t have to do it that way – rustic is good too.
This is not a pie that you can eat straight out of the oven. It needs to cool for a couple of hours and be refrigerated. This helps the filling firm up more. My husband likes to eat his cold but I love mine warm so I zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds and serve it with vanilla ice-cream and whipped coconut cream. Ahh…. Sweet cherry pie…..
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