Special Recipes

Ingredients

Pie

4 cups (approximately 2lbs) pitted fresh cherries

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

3/4-1 cup sugar, depending on the sweetness of fruit

1/8 teaspoon salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, sliced

1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water

course sugar for sprinkling

All-butter double crust

2 1/2 cups (315 grams) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold

ice water

Method

1. Start with the pie crust. Make sure all of your ingredients are very very cold. Fill a measuring cup with water and add a few ice cubes, set aside for it to get cold. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Dice two sticks of very cold butter into cubes and add them to your bowl. Using a pastry blender, two knives or your hands, begin working the butter in until the butter is broken down to the size of small peas.
2. Drizzle ice water starting with 1/2 cup over the butter and flour mixture. Using a spatula, gather the dough. If it’s still dry and flaky add water 1 tablespoon at a time until it will hold together – but make sure that the dough never gets “wet”. Once it’s together in a big clump, remove from the bowl and gather all of the pieces into one ball. Knead everything gently together.
3. Divide the dough in half and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Pull in the sides to cover the dough and flatten the dough into a disk. Lit it chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before rolling it out.
4. While the crust is chilling, preheat the over to 400F.
5. Stir together the cherries, cornstarch, tapioca, sugar, salt, lemon and almond extract in a large bowl.
6. After at least an hour, roll out the chilled dough on a floured work surface. Gently transfer it to a 9-inch pie pan and trim the edges to an inch overhang.
7. Spoon the filling into the pie crust, leaving the majority of the liquid in the bowl. Top with slices of butter.
8. Roll out the second dough disk on a lightly floured surface. Lightly drape it over the filling and trim it to the same length as the bottom. Fold the top layer under the bottom crust. pressing the edges to seal. Crimp and then brush with egg was and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
9. Cut slits in the middle of the pie with a sharp knife. Bake for 25 minutes at 400 F and then reduce the temperature to 350F and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes. Let the pie cool on a wire rick and enjoy!