Now’s the time to put all those summer berries and fruits into flaky pie doughs and luscious cobblers and crisps. But one fruit is the prize of the season: the elusive sour cherry. Their season is short and they’re in the markets now at about $6 per pint. A few vendors at the Portland farmer’s market sell them, notably Uncle’s Farm from Hollis.
Sour cherries
The best is sour cherry pie, a treasure of sweet and tart. The pie is easy to make, but pitting the cherries is a chore. I have two cherry pitters, in which each pits four cherries at a time. So I can get 8 cherries done in about 30 seconds. You’ll need two to three pints, or 4 cups whole cherries. If you go to the Bed Bath & Beyond website (follow link for page) and search for cherry pitters, they offer several that pit multiple cherries at a time. Leroux Kitchen in Portland generally carries pitters, too.
Usually the cherries are assembled in a basic double-crust dough, with the top cut into strips for a lattice topping. But I had come across a Martha Stewart Facebook post for sour cherry pie and she offered a good short cut for the top crust. Instead of taking the time to prepare the lattice a time saver is to cut out holes in the rolled out top crust with a 3/4 –inch biscuit cutter. It’s very attractive and leave to Stewart to come up with this. You need the openings in the top crust so that the heat penetrates the filling, caramelizing the juices so that they thicken into a luscious syrup.
Ingredients
- Pastry dough
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- Dash sea salt
- 2 to 3 teaspoons sugar
- 2 sticks butter, well chilled
- 4 tablespoons fresh lard (available at Rosemont Market), well chilled
- About 1/2 cup ice water
- Filling
- 4 cups cherries, pitted.
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
Instructions
- Pastry dough:
- Put the flour, salt and sugar into the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix. Add most of the butter and lard (reserve a few tablespoons of it) and process 10 times until the mixture is the size of small peas. Add the remaining fat and pulse a few times so that you have larger pieces. This method creates a terrifically flaky dough. Add the water, pulsing until the mixture comes together and just barely leaves the sides of the bowl. It should be slightly moist. Add more water if necessary.
- Dump onto a lightly floured soured and form into two disks, kneading once to combine. Wrap each in waxed paper or plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Roll out bottom crust and add cherry filling to fit an 8- to 9-inch pie plate, glass or metal.
- Roll out second disk to about 11 inches and cut about 6 to 8 holes with the biscuit cutter. Affix over pie, crimping the edges for a decorative border. Glaze the top with an egg wash (1 egg and 1 tablespoon heavy cream beaten together). Sprinkle the top with dusting sugar.
- Filling:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Put the pitted cherries into a large bowl. Add the sugar, cornstarch and extracts. Mix gently until combined. Let sit for 10 minutes for the cherries to release their juices.
- Add to pie shell. Dot the top with butter and cover with top crust or lattice. Brush with egg wash and dusting sugar.
- Put on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes; lower temperature to 375 and continue to bake for 45 minutes or more until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling and slightly thickened and syrupy.
- Remove to a cooling rack. Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream.
Notes
I named the pie Southport Cherry Pie because I brought it to friends in Southport when I visited them; they love my cherry pie. I quickly assembled it at home before leaving; unbaked, I put it in my cooler for the trip. It arrived perfectly.
