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- What Cherries are Best for Pies?
- Selecting the Best Cherry Pie Ingredients
- Ingredients for Homemade Cherry Pie
- How to Make the Cherry Pie Crust
Cherry pie is a classic, traditional dessert made from sweet cherries encased in a pastry crust. Depending on the recipe, the filling may include sugar, flour, or cornstarch to thicken it, brandy or almond extract for additional flavoring, and occasionally a streusel topping.
The resulting dish can be served either hot or cold and is often accompanied by ice cream or whipped cream. When prepared with tart cherries, These pies are especially popular around holidays such as Fourth of July celebrations when many Americans turn to the timeless dessert that features an iconic lattice top filled with thick juice and flavorful fruit beneath.
What Cherries are Best for Pies?
When selecting cherries for use in pies, it is important to consider
ripeness, size, sweetness, and type. Tart cherries are a popular choice due
to their vibrant flavor and color; however overripe varieties may not hold
up well to cooking.
- Sweet Black Cherries have a bolder taste and can contain more liquid than tart types, so using these may require some adjustments to the recipe.
- Similarly, Rainier varieties are slightly sweeter than other sweet selections but maintain their shape when cooked making them ideal for baking.
- Most importantly, whichever variety is chosen should be harvested at its peak ripeness with the stems intact for maximum flavor potential.
Selecting the Best Cherry Pie Ingredients
When selecting the best cherry pie ingredients, professional bakers should strive for only the freshest and highest-quality ingredients. Fresh, sweet cherries are essential to a great pie and can be purchased from local farmer's markets or even picked yourself if available.
- For the crust, use lard or butter for a flaky crust with a rich flavor, and high-grade flour for structure.
- Combined with high-fat dairy such as cream cheese incorporated into the dough for additional richness, these ingredients make for a flavorful pastry crust.
- When combining your wet ingredients, natural cane sugar is an ideal choice because of its unique depth of flavor and ability to retain moisture in baking. A little bit of real vanilla extract adds additional complexity to the filling mixture that helps bring out the best qualities of all your pie ingredients.
Ingredients for Homemade Cherry Pie
you should start by combining 1/4 cup of white sugar and 4 tablespoons
of cornstarch in a bowl and mix until fully incorporated.
- Then add 5 cups of pitted baking cherries to the bowl.
- 1/8 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and almond extract; mix everything together gently but thoroughly.
- Spread your mixture into an unbaked 9-inch pastry shell and top it with 2 tablespoons of chilled butter, diced into small cubes.
- Finally, roll out another sheet of 9-inch pastry dough to make the top crust and cover the filling with this crust before crimping the edges together.
- Bake your pie in a preheated 375°F oven for about 40 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!
How to Make the Cherry Pie Crust
The key to a delicious
cherry pie with a
professional-tasting crust is all about technique. To make the perfect
crust:
- It is important to start with cold ingredients such as butter and Crisco. Once these have been sliced into cubes, incorporate them into a bowl of unbleached all-purpose flour and add salt.
- With your hands blend the ingredients until pea-sized crumbles are formed before sprinkling in cold water until the dough forms together when lightly pinched.
- After wrapping the dough between two separate sheets of plastic wrap, chill for thirty minutes in order for the fats to solidify.
- Once taken from the fridge, roll out on a lightly floured surface and place carefully in the prepared pan before trimming off the edges.
- For an extra golden color bump, brush the edges with an egg wash made from one egg white beaten with one tablespoon of milk or cream before baking according to recipe instructions.
- When finished your homemade cherry pie should have an ideal flaky crust that melts in your mouth!