Cherry Pie

We have a cherry tree in our yard and it was overflowing with cherries. My mom made me go and pick as many as I could. Later that day she remembered that we had company coming over so she needed me to bake a dessert. So since I had all these cherries I decided to make a cherry pie! Cherry pie is probably my favorite pie ever! It was really delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I got the recipe from Food Network online so shout out to them for having a really good cherry pie recipe. This recipe was really simple though it did take a long time to make.

As you can see I picked a lot of cherries off our tree. For this recipe you can get frozen cherry from the store if you don't have a cherry tree. These are just small tart cherries I don't think that size matters as much.

Since I picked these cherries that means I have to pit them. A few years ago we didn't have a "pitter" so we had to cut the pits from the cherries and it took a really long time. I would recommend if you have a cherry tree to get a pitter from the store it will save you a ton of time. This one is from Williams and Sonoma and it works great!

Here is a picture of me pitting the cherries. It works really well and saves a lot of clean up down the road.

I would recommend playing a movie and listening to something while you pit because it takes a really long time. Here I am watching Lilo and Stitch! :)

Here is 4 cups of pitted cherries which the recipe calls for. But my mom wanted a fuller pie so I had to go and pick another cup of cherries. So you can do this if you want you just have to add a little more sugar and corn starch down the road.

After you have all your pitted cherries you need to put them in a pan on the stove. Turn your stove on to medium heat and put a lid on it. You want to cook the cherrys down so that a lot of the water is gone. Around 15 minutes. KEEP AN EYE ON IT! I didn't because I was to wrapped up in my movie and it boiled over. It didn't seem to be much of a problem though.

After you cook down the cherries it should looks something like this. The cherries are going to look a little wilted and you will see that you don't have as much filling as you thought you would thus the extra cup of cherries comes in handy.

Next you need to measure out the sugar and corn starch. Like I said if you add the extra cup of cherries you need to add a little extra sugar and corn starch.

Make sure you mix the corn starch and sugar together really well, you don't want it to be clumpy in your filling.

Next pour the corn starch and sugar into the cherries.

Make sure you completely stir it all into your cherries.

Now that the cherries, corn starch, and sugar are mixed together it's time to boil this down. It was around another 15 minutes.

If it looks like this, pretty dark and thick then its probably done. The recipe says later if its to thin you can add some corn starch and if its too thick you can add some water.

Now you have to wait for the filling to cool. Because I wanted it to cool quicker I transferred it into a different bowl and then put it into the fridge. This is optional but it speeds up the process.

While the filling is cooling you need to figure out what you are doing for the crust and you also need to SET YOUR OVEN TO 375!!. You can make a crust from any recipe online or you can buy one. The crust on the left is what I will be using for the bottom. It is a whole wheat pre-made crust. And the dough on the right is a pillsburg pre-made crust that I will lay on the top. Buying it already made will speed up and time and save you a lot of hassle.

Once you have your crust into your pan poor in the pie filling. 

The recipe tells you to add a little butter on top of the filling. I'm not sure why but I did it anyway.

Next drape the top crust over the whole pie. Cut off any excess dough hanging over the side.

Now pinch both crusts together to form a little ridge.

Now you need to cut some slits into the middle so that any steam that needs to escape during the cooking can.

Now sprinkle some sugar on the top of the pie for a little extra piazzas.

You probably want to place your pie on a pan. This will help you if your pie spills over it will make everything not as messy.

Next carefully place your pie in the oven. Set your timer for 50 minutes and wait for it to be done! You might want to check it at around 45 minutes just in case.

Well it's all done! As you can see my pie did spill a little bit so it was nice that the pan was there to catch it. Also I think that extra cup of cherries did make the pie fuller!

Next cut your pie and enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh or frozen tart cherries
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/8 tablespoon almond extract (optional)
• Your favorite pie crust or pie dough recipe for 2 crust pie
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, to dot
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, to sprinkle

Directions

Place cherries in medium saucepan and place over heat. Cover. After the cherries lose considerable juice, which may take a few minutes, remove from heat. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cornstarch together. Pour this mixture into the hot cherries and mix well. Add the almond extract, if desired, and mix. Return the mixture to the stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and let cool. If the filling is too thick, add a little water, too thin, add a little more cornstarch.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Use your favorite pie dough recipe. Prepare your crust. Divide in half. Roll out each piece large enough to fit into an 8 to 9-inch pan. Pour cooled cherry mixture into the crust. Dot with butter. Moisten edge of bottom crust. Place top crust on and flute the edge of the pie. Make a slit in the middle of the crust for steam to escape. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about 50 minutes.

 Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.