Those of you who read my Summer List probably know I wanted to make a cherry pie with fresh cherries this summer.
What you probably don't know, however, is just how much I wanted to make one. I had never made a fresh cherry pie and was really excited to try. I found my inspiration from Deb who, if you don't yet know, has a gift for making things look (and I'd imagine taste) absolutely delicious. So, when I saw her recipe for Sweet Cherry Pie, I knew this would be the one. The only thing that would have possibly made me more excited about this pie would probably have been if Deb herself made it for me. Truthfully, though, it was pretty fun to make.
In preparation for the pie, I bought the Oxo Good Grips Cherry Pitter to which Deb refers in her blog. After pitting my first bowl of cherries ever, I'd have to agree with Deb's questioning of Oxo's "splash guard." If that was pitting with a splash guard, I don't wanna know how messy it'd be without one!
As excited as I was to make this pie, I was even more excited to eat it! Dustin suggested I make my Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream to go with it. LOVE him! After having them together, I really can't imagine having the pie without the ice cream, nor would I ever want to! Through a mouth full of pie and ice cream, Dustin muttered, "I think this is the best thing I've ever eaten." Talk about a statement, right?
We demolished the pie within two days. Each glorious day, we enjoyed a late afternoon snack as well as a delicious dessert. I'm having withdrawals now. Seriously.
I chose to use my favorite pie crust recipe which turned out to complement the pie wonderfully. The crust was golden, flaky, light and had the perfect amount of subtle saltiness to offset the sweet cherry filling. I prefer pie crusts to use butter instead of shortening, so this recipe is always a winner for me. Incidentally, it goes great with chicken pot pie, too. I'm just sayin'.
The pie was extremely good, folks. Extremely good. I truly recommend you try it out. And...soon! Cherry season is almost over. (Boo!).
Check another one off my Summer List! Woohoo!
Sweet Cherry Pie
Equipment
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- pie crust
- 4 cups pitted fresh cherries about 2 pounds unpitted
- 4 tablespoons arrowroot starch
- ⅔ to ¾ coconut sugar adjust this according to the sweetness of your cherries
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Juice of half a lemon
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Stir together the cherries, cornstarch, sugar, salt, lemon and vanilla extract gently together in a large bowl.
- Roll out half of chilled dough (use larger piece, if you’ve divided them unevenly) on a floured work surface to 13-inch round. Gently place it in 9-inch pie pan, either by rolling it around the rolling pin and unrolling it over the pan or by folding it into quarters and unfolding it in the pan. Trim edges to a half-inch overhang.
- Spoon filling into pie crust, discarding the majority of the liquid that has pooled in the bowl.
- Roll out the remaining dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface, drape it over the filling, and trim it, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal it, and crimp the edge decoratively. Brush the egg wash over over pie crust.
- Cut slits in the crust with a sharp knife, forming steam vents, and bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F. and bake the pie for 25 to 30 minutes more, or until the crust is golden. Let the pie cool on a rack.
Dustin
Miss having this. Let's update this one.
Connie
This is in response to problems with a liquidy crust - on fruit pies.
The filling shouldn't be at all watery before it goes into the crust, so don't give the fruit any time to macerate. Fit the bottom crust into the pie pan, prick with fork, roll out the top crust so that it's ready, THEN mix the fruit, corn-starch, sugar, salt, lemon and vanilla extract gently together in a large bowl.
Fill right way. Put second crust over pie. Make sure you cut slits in the top crust to form steam vents.
Scott
Loved this recipe, especially the crust!
It ended up very liquidie. Are you suppose to let the cherries sit for a while before putting them in the dough?
Lacey Baier
Hmm...it turned out liquidy, huh? Given that, I'd recommend not letting the cherries sit for very long at all, as they will start to mix with the sugar and create more juices as they sit.
Bonnie
Thank you! I look forward to trying this recipe!!
Lacey Baier
I hope you like it, Bonnie! It's one of my favorites.
Heather
I just made this last night using the all-butter pie crust you recommend! I had to add some blueberries because I didn't have enough cherries to fill the pie but it turned out great! I'll be blogging about it in a couple of days. Thanks for the recipe!
Lacey Baier
Yay, Heather! I'm glad you liked it. When I made the pie, it didn't seem like there were going to be enough cherries when I put the top crust on, but it turned out fine. Looking forward to reading your post! Thanks for stopping by!
Betty @ scrambled hen fruit
Beautiful pie- your photos are lovely! One of my goals this summer is to make a good pie crust. I've made one pie so far but while the filling was divine, I wasn't satisfied with the crust. I'm going to try your recipe and see how that turns out. Thanks for sharing!
Lacey Baier
Thanks, Betty! I hope you like the crust. I've made it 4-5 times and have enjoyed it each time. Good luck! 🙂
Zoe
Wow!! So fresh! The first picture speaks to me with that big fat cherry sticking out!
This recipe totally reminds me of my grandmother...ahhh...summers going fruit picking and baking fresh pies!
I MUST make this beauty!
Zoe
Lacey Baier
Hi Zoe! Such good memories! If only I could have picked the cherries myself, too, it would have been perfect. :). Happy summer.
Joe Boyle
My grandmother is a very skilled baker, so I just might show her this recipe! This pie looks very delicious! 😀
Lacey Baier
Hey Joe! I hope you do because it's super good. It's Dustin's favorite pie ever. Thanks for stopping by!
Memoria
This pie looks amazing! I've made this pie before too and wish I had used a different crust recipe like you did. I will have to check out your recipe. I agree that homemade vanilla (or vanilla bean) ice cream would pair really well with this. YUM!
Lacey Baier
Hi Memoria! Yeah, really can't go wrong with cherry pie and vanilla ice cream, huh? 🙂 I'd love to know how this crust compares to the one(s) you've tried. Thanks for sharing!
Joanne
Anything that Deb touches turns to heaven. I love cherry pie and yet haven't got around to making one. EVER. That needs to be remedied. I'm in love with this!
Lacey Baier
Yes, Joanne, that definitely needs to be remedied! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Much to My Delight
Oh my word--that looks like heaven. I adore cherries. But I'm thinking I may have to duplicate this recipe with blueberries as I have seven cartons hanging out in my freezer. Beautiful photos!
Lacey Baier
Oooh, blueberries sound great too! Let us know how it turns out!
Becky
this looks so delicious. I'm wanting to be certain regarding the cherries. are you using sour cherries or sweet (bing) cherries? from the photos it appears that you used sour cherries but it's called sweet cherry pie. thanks.
Lacey Baier
Hi Becky, I used Bing cherries for the recipe. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for clarifying!