Sour Cherry Pie

Growing up, sour cherry pie was a special treat in some of our homes. In the ’50s the only sour cherries available came in a jar. It was nearly impossible to find fresh sour cherries, until the proliferation of farmers’ markets that we are now blessed with in New York City and around the country. Truth be told, the pie is still great made with jarred sour cherries, but, when time allows, making it with fresh sour cherries can’t be beat. These cherries are only available for a short time in June and July. If you grab them, invest a few dollars in a cherry-pitter. It’s worth the time it will save you. Serve the pie with ice cream or whipped cream.

Because the season for sour cherries is so short, we have also provided you a wonderful blueberry pie variation.

MAKES ONE 9-INCH DOUBLE-CRUST PIE

Our Pie Crust (recipe follows)

6 cups sour cherries (about 2 pounds), fresh or frozen, pitted

2 to 3 tablespoons tapioca flour, depending on how firm you like your filling

1 cup superfine sugar, or to taste

Grated zest of 1 lemon (about 1½ teaspoons)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon heavy cream or whole milk

1 extra-large egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 400º F.

Prepare Our Pie Crust. Partially blind bake the bottom crust (see Blind Baking box, here) and reserve top crust for lattice.

Place the cherries in a large bowl, add the tapioca flour and sugar, and toss carefully until well combined. Add the lemon zest and juice. Lower the oven temperature to 375ºF.

Fill the partially baked crust with the cherry mixture.

In a small bowl, combine the cream and egg yolk and mix well.

Cut the remaining rolled out dough round into ¾-inch-wide strips. Place the longest strip at the center of the pie, draping it over the edges slightly. Place the next largest strip perpendicular to the first one, crossing the pie at the center. Place the remaining strips in decreasing size order, alternating direction, over and under one another to weave a lattice pattern. Crimp the ends of the strips to the bottom crust. Brush the lattice with the cream mixture.

Bake the pie on a baking sheet until the top crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes. If the crust edges seem to be getting too brown, loosely tent them with foil. Transfer the pie carefully to a rack and cool for at least 2 hours to ensure the filling sets.

VARIATION

You can substitute blueberries for the cherries and you’ll get a fabulous result. If you do, use the same ingredient amounts for the filling, but increase the tapioca to 3 to 4 tablespoons (the tapioca amount is dependent on how firm you like your filling, as blueberries give off a lot of liquid).

Our Pie Crust

A generation ago, most home bakers would have used vegetable shortening and bleached all-purpose flour to make this crust. In trying to avoid trans fats we replaced the shortening with butter. We think we’ve improved the flavor as well. We’ve also switched to pastry flour, which ensures a flaky crust, and added a bit of whole-wheat flour.

MAKES 1 DOUBLE CRUST FOR A 9-INCH PIE

2 cups pastry flour

½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes

6 to 8 tablespoons cold water, as needed

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the flours, sugar, and salt and pulse until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until the dough forms a ball. Be careful not to overwork the dough at this point.

Divide the dough into 2 balls, one just slightly larger than the other. Handling the dough as little as possible, as too much reduces flakiness, form the dough into 2 flat discs. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Place the larger disc between 2 pieces of parchment paper, or lightly flour a work surface and a rolling pin. Working from the center outward, roll out to form a 12-inch circle. (To ensure that the dough isn’t sticking to your work surface, carefully lift it a few times as you roll.) If you have an extra-large dough spatula, use it to loosen the dough and transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, or move it by hand. Gently fit into the dish. Trim the edges with a sharp knife, as needed. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes to chill and rest the dough.

Fully blind bake the bottom crust for a no-bake filling (see box); partially blind bake for a fruit filling.

To prepare the top crust for a lattice pie see the description on here.