Justin’s favourite pie is bilberry, closely followed by strawberry. I on the other hand, like Twin Peaks’ Special Agent Dale Cooper, prefer a nice slice of cherry pie. Whatever the flavour, we agree on having it à la mode, with thick pouring cream… or better still, both!
A few weeks ago, I discovered bags of frozen cherries for sale at Lidl. I’ve often banged on about the nutritiousness, convenience and value for money of frozen blueberries… well, the same goes for cherries.
To give the pie a bit of a twist, I made a sweet almond pastry – a classic, complimentary flavour to cherries.
The vibrant red fruit makes for a very attractive dish.
The combination of buttery pastry, tangy fruit and cold cream – truly delicious! What’s your favourite fruit pie?
Click here to save my recipe to Pinterest.
Cherry pie
Rating:
Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Number of servings: 6
Ingredients
- 500g/17½oz frozen cherries (de-stoned)
- 150g/5¼oz caster sugar
- 150g/5¼oz plain flour
- 50g/1¾oz ground almonds
- 20g/¾oz caster sugar
- pinch of salt
- 100g/3½oz cold butter, cubed
- 1 egg yolk
- 2-3tbsp ice-cold water
- A little milk to brush the pastry top
- 1tbsp flaked almonds
For the filling
For the pastry
To finish
Method
- In a large saucepan over a low heat, add the frozen cherries and 125g caster sugar. Stir carefully, occasionally until the sugar has fully dissolved and the cherries have thawed. Set aside to cool completely
- In a food processor bowl, add the flour, ground almonds, sugar and salt. Pulse a couple of times to combine.
- Add the butter and yolk and pulse 6-12 times until it reaches a breadcrumb texture
- Add the ice-cold water, one tablespoon at a time, pulsing a couple of times between each addition until the texture begins to turn a bit lumpier
- Empty the contents of the food processor bowl on to the middle of a 'cross' of two sheets of cling film. Use the cling film to bring together the pastry into a flattened disc. Chill in the fridge for an hour
- Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
- After the hour, divide the pastry into two uneven pieces - ? and ?s. Put the smaller piece back into the fridge
- Grease a 25cm/10" pie dish. Set aside
- Roll out the larger piece on a floured work surface into a circular shape and carefully push in down into the bottom and sides of the greased pie dish. Trim around the edge so that there's a ½cm overhang as there will be a little shrinkage
- Cover the pie crust with a piece of parchment, cover with baking beans and blind bake in the centre of the oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely
- Remove the smaller piece of pastry from the fridge and roll out into a round, slightly larger than the top of the pie dish
- Fill the pie crust with the cooked cherry filling and some of the syrup
- Brush the top edge of the baked & cooled pie crust with a little water and cover with the pastry top. Trim and softly press the pastry lid into the pie crust
- Brush the top with a little milk and sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top
- Cook for 30-40 minutes or until the top of the pie is golden brown
- Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving with cream or ice cream