As a friend likes to point out, I hardly ever have any fruits lying around in my house. Not because I don't like fruits but because I can't eat a number of them in their raw form. I get this itchy palette feeling that is apparently due to the pollen of the trees the fruit came from. Not to worry, this isn't a life threatening allergy but I get it often with fruits such as apples, pears, plums, peaches, and cherries. It's too bad that cherries falls into that list because they can be nature's candy. Thankfully, I can eat cooked or processed fruit without having any adverse reactions. Thus, in the summer I take advantage of the season which bears the most fruit by making pies. It is rare to find me making any dense chocolate desserts at this time of the year and those should be reserved for the winter months where you can hide any fatty bulge behind a thick sweater.
I'm a big fan of America's Test Kitchen foolproof pie crust recipe which makes the use of vodka instead of just water to moisten the dough. This secret ingredient makes it so that the pie dough is a breeze to roll out and when baked, the alcohol is evaporated, leaving behind many flaky layers in the pie crust. This pie crust is a crust worth eating and it will make any pre-made pie crust seem bland and dull. I think my take-home message is that homemade baking is always tastier and more satisfying.
A little side note is that even though the recipe is titled "Sweet Cherry Pie" it is not a cloyingly sweet pie like those that are made from bright red canned sweetened cherries. It is a recipe that is meant to replicate a pie using sour cherries which have a very short season and are hard to find. So sweet cherries are substituted for sour cherries but the overall flavour still is tart, so much so that I've decided to add more sugar to the recipe.
For those of you who are like me and don't own a cherry pitter, you can use a thick straw to remove cherry pits.
Many cherries are needed for this pie.
Since cherries don't release a lot of juices, we can extract the juices from processed cherries and plums.
Tapioca is the thickener of choice. I don't have spice grinder but I tried to hand grind it with a mortar and pestle.
This may seem like a lot of juices but once baked, the pie has the right consistency.
I really enjoy fluting the edges of pies, it makes it seem so homemade.
Brushing the outside of the pie with egg wash ensures even browning of the pie.
The hardest part is to wait for the pie to cool.
Sweet Cherry Pie
Ingredients
Pie Dough
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup vodka, cold
1/4 cup cold water
Cherry Filling
2 red plums, halved and pitted
6 cups (about 2 pounds) pitted sweet cherries or 6 cups pitted frozen cherries, halved
2/3 cup sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
2 teaspoons bourbon (optional)
2 tablespoon instant tapioca, ground
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water
For the Pie Dough:
Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about two 1-second pulses. Add butter and shortening; process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistributed dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining 1 cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into 2 equal balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Cover each with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.
Remove 1 disk dough from refrigerator and roll out on generously floured (up to 1/4 cup) work surface to 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhand. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with 1 hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Refrigerate until dough is firm, about 40 minutes.
For the Filling:
Adjusting oven rack to lowest position, place baking sheet on oven rack, and heat oven 400 degrees. Process plums and 1 cup halved cherries in food processor until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Strain puree through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl, pressing on solids to extract liquid; discard solids. Stir remaining halved cherries, sugar, salt, lemon juice, bourbon (if using), tapioca, and cinnamon (if using) into puree; let stand for 15 minutes.
Transfer cherry mixture, including all juices, to dough-lined plate. Scatter butter pieces over fruit. Roll second disk of dough on generously floured work surface (up to 1/4 cup) to 11-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll over pie, leaving at least 1/2-inch over hand. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with tines of fork to seal. Brush top and edges with egg mixture. With sharp knife, make 8 evenly spaced 1-inch-long vents in top crust. Freeze pie 20 minutes.
Place pie on preheated baking sheet and bake 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake until juices bubble around the edges and crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes longer.
Transfer pie to wire rack; let cool to room temperature so juice have time to thicken, 2 to 3 hours. Cut into wedges and serve.
Source: slightly adapted from America's Test Kitchen
No comments:
Post a Comment