I came upon this recipe by Donna Currie for a blueberry pie after Kate of Kate In The Kitchen tweeted about it. I thought it looked too good to not try it. After going to 3 different stores looking for the blueberries mentioned in the recipe or a substitute and coming up empty, I changed over to cherries. I also reduced the amount of lemon juice because I was using some tart cherries and I didn’t want it to end up too sour.
This is a really simple pie to make. It uses very few ingredients and can be prepared at home in the oven or at camp using a dutch oven (I’ll save that for another day.).
Ingredients:
- 1 15oz. can of Dark Sweet Cherries in heavy syrup
- 1 14.5oz. can of Red Tart Cherries in water
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- Pie dough for a double-crusted pie
Equipment:
1 pie tin
Directions:
Combine cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a small bowl, mixing to combine. Break up any clumps and set aside.
Using a sieve, drain the syrup and water from the cherries into a saucepan. Add the cornstarch-sugar-salt mixture to the saucepan. Heat over medium until thick and smooth, stirring as necessary.
Once thick, remove from the heat and add the vanilla and lemon juice. Stir until blended together. Add the cherries. Set aside to cool. At this point, you can taste it and make sure you like the sweetness or tartness and adjust accordingly. I thought mine was perfect.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Roll your pie dough into a circle slightly larger than your pie tin. Place in the pie tin and trim around the edge.
Pour your filling into the pie shell.
Roll the top crust int a circle and place on top of the pie. Crimp around the edge to seal the crust. Cut slits into the top crust. Bake the pie until the crust is golden brown. Check it at 45 minutes. Mine took just shy of an hour.
Once your pie is done, cool it completely and then refrigerate for a little while to make sure the filling sets completely. This prevents the filling from running out after you remove the first piece.
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda’s:
- I should have cooled the pie completely before digging in. Oh well…It still tastes good.
- You can use blueberries and cherries for sure. I imagine you could also use canned peaches or any combination. Do you have any other ideas?
- If possible, it would be nice to use canned fruits in light syrup instead of heavy syrup.
- Maybe use an egg wash on the top crust and sprinkle with some turbinado sugar (Sugar In The Raw, for example.)