4th of July Cherry Pie - Not Burnt this time!
Cherry Pie with Cream Cheese Crust
Ingredients:
Cream Cheese Pastry – 9” double pie crust
1 stick of unsalted butter – softened
4 oz. cream cheese -softened
1 cup flour
Cherry Filling
4 lbs. fresh cherries – washed and pitted
¾ – 1 cup sugar
4 tbs. cornstarch
1 small lemon – zested and juiced
¼ tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbs. butter – cut in small pieces to dot top of filling
1 egg yolk plus a little water (~1 tbs.) – for egg wash
Directions:
Crust
Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the flour and mix
well until a dough forms. Divide the dough into two balls (one each
for the bottom and top crusts). Flatten the balls into disks and put
each one in a separate zip-lock bag (I flatten mine out a little more
once in the bags. It will make it easier to roll out). Refrigerate
overnight. This dough works better cold, so I usually prepare the
filling the night before and refrigerate it as well.
Filling
Cook the cherries over medium – medium-low heat, stirring occasionally
until they lose enough juice. You'll want enough to make the
filling, but still keep the cherries fairly firm. Mix the sugar and
cornstarch together, then add to the cherries. Raise the heat a
little and continue cooking until the cornstarch makes the liquid
thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and cool a few minutes. Add the
lemon juice, zest, almond extract, and vanilla. If making the night
before baking, put it in the refrigerator. If making the same day,
you'll want to cool the mixture to room temperature.
Putting it all together
Preheat oven to 400°F
When working with the dough, you'll want to keep things cold. Keep
one zip-lock bag in the refrigerator while rolling out the other. I
also put my rolling pin in the freezer while preparing my setup.
Lightly flour your work area. I use one of those plastic rolling mats
with the guides printed on it. I use two sheets of plastic wrap on
top of the dough to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin (for a
20” x 20” area). Roll the dough for the bottom crust very thin. For
a 9” pan you'll need to roll the dough out to 12”. I can usually
faintly see the guides printed on the mat through the dough. Position
the crust in the pan and trim anything over ~3/4” (anything extra can
be added to the top crust). Add the cooled filling, dot the top with
small pieces of butter, and put it in the refrigerator while rolling
out the top crust. The top crust will need to be a little thicker to
work with it. If you use it as one piece, cut little vents in the top
to let steam escape (after you've put it on the pie). If making a
lattice, cut strips about 1” wide (I use a pizza cutter). When adding
the top crust, if it doesn't want to stick to the bottom, add a little
egg wash to hold them together. Fold under the top and bottom crusts
together to form the edge of the pie. Use more egg wash over the top
of the crust.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400°F until the edge of the crust is golden brown. Cover the edge with aluminum foil, lower the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking another 25-30 minutes until the rest of the crust is golden, and the juices are bubbly.
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