Sour Cherry Pie

I can confidently say the Sour Cherry Pie is the most satisfying dessert I’ve made so far out of Dessert Person. Aside from the fact that it’s a beloved dessert, it’s pretty much guaranteed to taste good… and it’s pretty!

I made the Flaky All-Butter Pie Dough Almond Variation the night before; I have found making the dough for any of these recipes a day or two in advance really makes a difference in accurately following the directions when it’s time to make the entire thing. The one ingredient I could not find–of course–was sour cherries. It was early spring when I made this dessert, so I settled for frozen dark cherries, hoping it would still work if I was diligent.

You will definitely need to make two recipes of the pie dough; at one point, I was even nervous I might be short a tad. I first rolled out a big slab of dough into a circle to fill the bottom of the pie plate, and cut around the edges leaving half an inch. Claire makes this whole process much easier by showing you each step with photos; you almost don’t even need to read the directions until it’s time to put it in the oven with this visual assistance (but still do, because we all know what happens when we miss even a sentence of directions from Dessert Person). I don’t know why, but the ability to simply take a scissors and cut through this pie dough to get a perfect circle made me so happy—probably because I have a new appreciation for butter-based doughs now that I’m aware of the horrors involved in making a successful olive oil dough. I also cut the rest of the dough into thick strips that were longer than the pie plate, at least 13 inches. I recommend trying to get about ten strips if possible. I placed those strips back in the fridge while I worked on the filling.

I bought around six or seven small bags of frozen dark cherries and let them sit in the fridge overnight before making this recipe. Rather than dumping them into the bowl to make the filling mixture, I used a slotted spoon to take them out of the packages, weighed them to the necessary amount needed, and then placed them in a separate bowl. This helped me get rid of a lot of excess juice that otherwise may have really messed up the firmness of this pie once I cut through the finished product. Claire, however, does mention if you’re using fresh cherries to still freeze them since a key to making pies is keeping everything cold. I let mine sit out after they were weighed until I made the filling mixture, and it was fine.

I then mixed the cherries with sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, salt and almond extract. It smelled absolutely delicious—another reason this dessert was so satisfying. Again, this mixture seeped in well with the cherries, but there was plenty of juice left, so I made sure not to dump all that into the pie dish once it came time for assembling. Instead, I combined the leftover juice with the leftover cherry juice I had, simmered it in a saucepan for a bit while the pie was later baking to create a cherry syrup. You could definitely use it for a good whiskey drink or ice cream topping if you wanted! It just had too many good ingredients to waste.

Anyways, back to the pie assembling; I pulled out the pie dough strips and laid one across the pie. Then I placed one across. The next steps look intimidating, but are actually pretty easy. In order to make the weaving effect, I placed two strips across the second strip, so it appeared I had on strip under, and two strips over the perpendicular one. After that, I worked on adding pieces to each side, just lifting strips when needed to make it look like it was weaving. Again, this may sound confusing, but Dessert Person has a great step-by-step to show you how simple it is. Better yet, the dough is so easy to work with. My pie did not have a perfect centering with strips since I thought I would only have four strips for each side, but I was able to add extras at the end by using leftover dough.

Once I had the strips all placed, I made sure they were molded into the edges and cut to fit the length. I then used Claire’s technique of taking my fingers and making a zig-zag all around; remember, you’ll have that bottom base of dough around the edge so this is easy to do. Then I just stopped and admired my work! It was so freaking pretty, and easy to make it look like the picture in the book! While Claire makes good desserts, she isn’t the most notable for intricate designs and decorations; for all those people who love decorating, this is one to appreciate.

I brushed egg wash all over the top of the pie and sprinkled on a ton of demerara sugar. As Claire recommended, I placed the pie on a foil-lined baking sheet. It baked overall for about an hour and 45 minutes, with a lowered temperature after the first 20 minutes. For the last half hour, I covered the edges with tin foil in order to protect those areas from browning more than needed. By the time it was ready to be taken out, I could definitely see the bubbling in the center areas. However, one section basically had a leak of filling, which was kind of a bummer for the perfectionist in me.

I let my pie sit for a day before we dug in; this certainly tested my husband’s patience. Once we could finally tried it, I almost didn’t want to because it was just so beautiful (Am I the only one who feels like a Disney princess making pies?)! Just as I hoped, the filling was firm rather than drippy; it definitely paid off to be careful about how much juice I added to the pie plate. I am happy to report you can definitely make this recipe with frozen dark cherries, and it’s still delicious! It wasn’t extremely tart, but still great fruit flavor with warm layers from the cinnamon and cardamom.

I have to admit, many of the desserts in the pies and tarts section of Dessert Person have been very intimidating and overwhelming; but the Sour Cherry Pie is a recipe to save when you just need something to work. It’s pleasing to the eye and the taste buds. It can cater to people who are scared to try new things, and impress just about anyone with it’s all-American weaving technique. I can’t recommend this one enough as it made me feel extremely accomplished and motivated to make more pies in the future.

I learned the Sour Cherry Pie was a memorable part of Claire’s childhood. Find out why by watching her YouTube video on this recipe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-srudZAM3U4