Sweet Cherry Pie

Could it be possible that I haven’t posted a pie here since this past Easter? I don’t know how I let so much time slip. Were you all missing pies as much as I was? I had to make a cherry pie. It was time.

Sweet Cherry Pie
adapted from Martha Stewart

Pie Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons margarine or chilled vegetable shortening
1/4 cup ice water

Cherry Filling
2 pounds Bing cherries, pitted and halved (I used a combo of Bing and Rainier cherries)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
All-purpose flour, for rolling
1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
1 tablespoon turbinate or granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine cherries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice; toss until cherries are coated. Set aside while you prepare the crust.

Food Processor Method: Put flour and salt in bowl of machine. Cut butter and vegetable shortening into flour. Process a few seconds until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Drop by drop add the water, processing very briefly. The whole process would take 20 to 30 seconds.

Drop by drop add the water, processing very briefly. The whole process would take 20 to 30 seconds.

Wrap and chill the pastry for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 F. If pastry has been chilled for a long time, let it sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before rolling.

Lightly flour a pastry board, marble counter, or kitchen counter. Divide the pastry in half. Pat each piece of pastry into a flat round. Roll first disc between parchment paper or plastic wrap (or 1/2 and 1/2 like I did here).

Roll pastry in one direction only, turning pastry continually to prevent it from sticking to the surface.
Using pie plate as a guide, measure rolled-out pastry — it should be slightly larger than the pie plate and 1/8-inch thick. Fold rolled pastry circle in half so you can lift it more easily. Unfold, gently fitting the pastry into the pie plate, allowing pastry to hang evenly over the edge.Add in your filling.

Now on to the lattice strips. On a very hot summer day even with the air conditioning working at its fullest potential. Even making it in a freezer…making lattice strips can be tricky. While you are making your strips, if you feel the dough has gotten too soft to work with, pop the dough into the freezer to chill a little.

Roll out 2nd dough disk the same way you rolled out the first disc. Cut out your lattice strips and start to carefully place them in a crises-cross way over the cherry filling. Brush with the egg wash. Sprinkle on some turbinado sugar.Turbinado sugar makes every thing so sparkly.

I bake my fruit pies over a baking tray lined with aluminum foil as the juices sometimes like to escape. Bake at 375 until crust is golden brown and juices bubble, 50 minutes–1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

What is your favorite summer pie?