Homemade Cherry Pie With A Lattice Crust
Early summer is cherry season. My favorite way to eat cherries is in a pie. Many people have negative associations with cherry pies — but that’s because they’ve only eaten storebought cherry pies. There is nothing like a homemade cherry pie. Especially with a crust made from scratch with lard and real butter and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I made this pie for my extended family tonight in Ohio and everyone loved it. They ooohed and aaahed. Which is what you want when people are eating your pies.
Oh, and they ate all of the crust. That is how you know you made a good crust — when people eat all of it — instead of just eating the filling. My pie crust recipe is tried and true — it comes out flaky and light and delicious every time (if I do say so myself). This recipe was given to me by world-famous baker, Marion Cunningham, who first handed it down to Vogue Food Editor, Jeffrey Steingarten, who bequeathed it to me via his book, The Man Who Ate Everything (Get a copy of this book — you will absolutely LOVE it. It’s one of my top 10 favorite books of all time.).
I like to make lattice crusts. They look fancy but they are actually very easy to do. My instructions are not super-detailed, but you could probably Google it and find more detailed steps. Or you could just do what I did when I learned how to make a lattice crust — wing it. Once you start doing it, it starts to make sense. And don’t get hung up on making it perfect. You can always just serve it with extra ice cream. Trust me, no one will notice.
You can use sour cherries or sweet cherries. If you use sour cherries, you may need to add a little more sugar.
Homemade Cherry Pie With A Lattice Crust
Ingredients:
1 homemade pie crust (click for recipe)
5 cups pitted cherries
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar (preferably a natural sugar like Rapadura or palm sugar)
3 tablespoons corn starch
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract (click here for my homemade vanilla extract recipe)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons butter plus a little extra for greasing the pie tin
1 tablespoon milk
1. Make the pie crust according to the directions up until the part where you chill the dough before rolling it out (step 4 in my recipe).
2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. While the dough is chilling, make the cherry filling. In a large bowl, combine pitted cherries, 1/2 cup of the sugar (more if you are using sour cherries), corn starch, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and sea salt.
3. Grease the pie tin with butter.
4. Roll out half of the dough according to the directions. Lay it in the greased pie tin. Trim the edges on the overhang to 1/2 inch.
5. Spoon the cherry filling into the pie shell.
6. Roll out the other half of the pie dough and, using a butter knife or pizza cutter, cut it into 3/4 to one inch strips.
7. Lay the longest strip across the center of the pie. Add more strips parallel to the first strip. Then add strips perpendicular to those strips, braiding them by alternating the strips under and over them. Roll the overhang up and use a fork or your fingers to press it down to cover the ends of the lattice strips. Don’t worry about making this perfect. Just do the best you can. It will still taste good.
8. Brush with milk (use your fingertip if you don’t have a pastry brush) and then sprinkle with the tablespoon of sugar.
9. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 375 and bake for another hour. Check the pie every 15 or 20 minutes; if the crust is browning too fast, add some strips of foil on top.
10. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream.
This post is a part of the Real Food Wednesday blog carnival. Please click here to share your real food tips and recipes.
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30/06/2009 at 7:29 pm Permalink
I love cherries, but not so much in pie. Isn’t that weird? I think your pie might change my mind, though!
Ren’s last blog post..Charro Beans with Roasted Chayote and Red Chile Corn Pone
30/06/2009 at 8:04 pm Permalink
That pie looks so yummy. But I really hate to bake as I am carb and sugar phobic. Have you tried almond flour for baking? I make a pumpkin pie that turns out pretty good with an almond pie crust and stevia as sweetener.
Catherine’s last blog post..A Non-Bitter Stevia Extract
30/06/2009 at 8:08 pm Permalink
Thanks, Ren. I think you might change your mind too. This is good stuff.
PS: I do also like to eat the cherries plain. That’s one of my favorite things about summertime — eating cherries out of a bowl.
30/06/2009 at 8:09 pm Permalink
Hi, Catherine,
I have made almond bread — when we were doing the GAPS diet. But I love real pie crust. There is no substitute.
30/06/2009 at 8:31 pm Permalink
Ann Marie, how in the world do we remove the pits from the cherries?????
Thanks, Kelly
Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s last blog post..Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing Recipe or Homemade Ranch Veggie Dip
30/06/2009 at 8:41 pm Permalink
I bought a cherry pitter. It’s very easy to use.
You can get them at gourmet shops or a restaurant supply store.
We didn’t have one tonight though — my mom pitted all the cherries herself. You just squeeze them until you feel the pit and pull it out.
01/07/2009 at 3:27 am Permalink
I have a cherry ‘popper’ that makes that familiar X and O shape you see on canned olives. Very easy to use, a bit messy (wear an apron) but the kids love doing it for me!
I’m not a pie person when it comes to cooking, only when it comes to eating! I’ve tried every pie crust recipe in the known universe (Alpha Centaurians, here’s your chance…) with no success. “Easy as pie” is my favorite oxymoron. Oh, but I do love to eat a good cherry pie! I’m saving your filling recipe to use in cobbler, something I can manage.
Local Nourishment’s last blog post..June 2009 Summary
01/07/2009 at 4:54 am Permalink
OMG, Ann Marie! This brings back memories! My Granny had cherry trees in her orchard and made the best cherry pies in the world! This looks like it could rival hers. Jon and I ended up at a diner at 3:00 a.m. on our first date, eating cherry pie. I told him about my grandmother’s pie then. I’ve been looking for palm sugar, but haven’t been able to find it. Any sources?
Cathy Payne’s last blog post..ONL046 Producing Beef in Harmony with Mother Nature: An Interview with Bill Hodge of Hodge Ranch, LLC
01/07/2009 at 5:20 am Permalink
I remember using a bobby pin to pit sour cherries when I was a kid. Cherry pie is one of the best pies in the world!!!
01/07/2009 at 6:25 am Permalink
This would be a wonderful dish for Fourth of July! Thank you for the inspiration.
Stephanie
Stephafriendly’s last blog post..Sourdough Buckwheat Pancakes
01/07/2009 at 6:38 am Permalink
Oh, yum! Sour cherry pie is my favorite! For July 4th, I always make American Pie: 3/4 cherries, 1/4 blueberries, with stripes of crust across the cherries and stars on top of the blueberries. Big “Ooooooh! Aaaah…” factor.
Chris at Lost Arts Kitchen’s last blog post..Strawberry Meditations
01/07/2009 at 8:22 am Permalink
Mmmm, cherry pie! Thanks for sharing that
01/07/2009 at 8:54 am Permalink
Oh that cherry pie looks so good. I like the touch of lemon juice in that recipie as well. Sounds delightful.
dental’s last blog post..Teeth Whitening with Go Smile:Go Smile or Dentist Whitening?
02/07/2009 at 6:16 am Permalink
Where do you buy the lard for your crust, and is there a brand that you would recommend? I don’t know how to tell if it is “real lard” and if it came from pig that were not fed gmo soy or corn.
I love your blog!
02/07/2009 at 2:58 pm Permalink
Megan – You need to buy it from a farmer. You can’t buy it in the store — the stuff they have there is hydrogenated. Ask the farmer if s/he can sell you some suet or pig fat. You can render it yourself — it’s easy! I’ll write a blog post soon on how to render lard. If you don’t know a local farmer, you can look on eatwild.com or localharvest.com. I order mine from a farm in Oregon that I found on localharvest.
05/07/2009 at 8:05 am Permalink
we have one farm here in Minneapolis that does pasture their pigs and sells lard at some co-ops, check the refridgerated section, it won’t be on the shelf if it i real, pastured pig lard. also there is a butcher here who renders her own lard from pastured pig fat. but you definitly have to ask around a lot.
the pie looks amazing annemarie! im going to try your pie dough recipe today but with strawberry/rhubbarb inside!
emily- mpls real food lover’s last blog post..Indian-spiced Coconut Milk Rice Pudding