30 by 30: Sweet Cherry Pie
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It’s no surprise that the first thing I chose to make from my 30 by 30 list was cherry pie. It’s one of my all-time favorite desserts (and is, without a doubt, my favorite type of pie). In fact, Tom and his siblings all have their own birthday cakes that my mother-in-law still makes for them, and my requested birthday “cake” is actually a cherry pie. 🙂 Cherries being in season and at a good price certainly helped make my decision much easier, too.
Now, I have professed my love for canned cherry pie filling and while I have no qualms about eating it in a pie, I wanted to make the filling from scratch. I’d been eyeing the Cook’s Illustrated recipe for a few weeks, and decided to give it a whirl. The pie uses 2 plums in the mix, which I thought was a bit odd, but I just went with it since the folks at Cook’s tend to know what they’re doing and plums are my favorite fruit, anyway.
This pie turned out really great. I loved the filling even more the second and third day (of course, I love the crust better the first day – always a dilemma with pie making!). I’m so glad to have a good recipe for my favorite pie in my repertoire now.
I used my favorite pie crust for this recipe—aka, the only one I’ve made from scratch. If an inexperienced baker like myself can pull this pie crust off the very first time (and every time after that), there is no reason to change. Plus it’s buttery and delicious, of course.
By the way, if you’re looking for something to do with all those cherry pits you so diligently removed, this is what I did.
Sweet Cherry Pie
Filling from Cook’s Illustrated
Your favorite double-crusted pie dough
2 red plums, halved and pitted
6 cups sweet cherries, pitted and halved (or 6 cups frozen cherries)
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. instant tapioca, ground
pinch of ground cinnamon (optional, I used it)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1/4″ pieces
1 large egg beaten with 1 tsp. water (I just used a yolk that I had leftover from breakfast)
Process the plums and 1 cup of the cherries in a food processor until smooth, about 1 minute. Push the puree through a mesh strainer and get as much of the liquid as possible. Discard the solids. Stir in the remaining cherries, sugar, salt, lemon juice, tapioca, and cinnamon (if using) and mix to combine. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Line a 9″ pie pan with a round of dough. Fill with the cherry mixture. Scatter the pieces of butter over the fruit. Then, top with the second round of pie dough. Flute the edges using your thumb and forefinger or a fork to seal. Brush the top with the egg wash. With a sharp knife, cut eight 1″ vents into the top of the pie crust. Freeze the pie for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 and place a cookie sheet on the middle rack. Once the pie comes out of the freezer, place on the preheated sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 and continue to bake until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly, another 30-45 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to let cool, and allow to set for 2-3 hours before serving.
My sister, too, always requests cherry pie for her birthday cake. (I ask for raspberry!)
Mmm this looks delicious. I LOVE berry pies, I’m not a huge fan of apple but any type of berry I love. I’m turning 28 in August and am considering making one of these lists and giving myself 2 years to get through it : )
Congrats!
Cherry pie is my favorite pie too! I’ve also never made one, so I’m saving this recipe – I really like the plums in it!
Looks so wonderful! I have to say I make a tasty pie but even with little cookie cut shapes and such my pies are not near as beautiful as yours! “Ugly as Pie” is a popular saying in my house. :p
What a lovely pie! Wow.
Yum! I commend you for making this and knocking one off the 30 x 30 bucket list. I’ve never had fresh cherry pie before. How did you manage to pit 6 cups of cherries??!! wow!
Anna – lucky for me, my son started getting hungry right after I started pitting them, so my husband had to finish the job. 😉
Cherry pie is always my moms favourite Elly.
That looks delicious – and I’m surprised that it doesn’t have too much sugar or butter. Great job. 29 more to go.
I love this idea of ’30 by 30′. Your cherry pies looks fantastic. I have about a kilo of cherries in the fridge waiting to become ‘glyko tou koutaliou’ or Greek spoon dessert but I think I just changed my mind.
Magda
This looks delicious, Elly. Isn’t doing a list like this fun?
Looks delicious Elly! Congratulations on making this kitchen classic. I will be diligently foliowing you to see your 29 other items completed.
I recently made a cherry pie too. Which is funny because I’m not usually a pie person, but I had such a craving – who could resist with all the sweet fresh cherries around? Your pie is making me want another slice, right about now!
Looks so good Elly! Love the pit idea too!
Looks great Elly. Cherry Pie is one of my favorites as well.
This pie is gorgeous. It reminds of the old days when the Greek-owned diners would feature homemade pies each day.
This is making me drool. Never made a cherry pie before.
It looks like you officially mastered the cherry pie on your first try! I’m going to remember your crust recipe, too, because I have a major pie phobia for no good reason.
I get the Tasting Table emails, too! The cherry pits into syrup sounds like a great idea. Did you do anything w/ the syrup yet?
We used it on pancakes and I wanted to use it on French toast, but I totally forgot. It sat in the fridge for a while before I remembered it, lol. I think it would be a really great base for boozy drinks, in place of something like simple syrup.