Sour (Tart) Cherry Pie

Sour cherries may not be good eating out hand, but they make the BEST cherry pies!  Their season of availability is very short, only appearing at the market for a week or two each spring, so I pit and flash freeze them (here's how) so I can enjoy that fresh springtime flavor any time of year. 

And hey, if you have a batch of super flaky all-butter crust in the freezer too, you could whip a pie up in no time.  Seriously, can you imagine how happy you'd be to enjoy gorgeous pie on a cold winter day?  Your birthday?  Valentine's day? 

This pie is a cinch to make.  Just line a pie plate with a bottom crust.....

Stir together the pie filling and pour it in, top with a lattice crust, and bake. Use a cute little cherry crust cutter to decorate your pie, if you like.  I like! 

Make someone's day.  Make pie! 

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• pastry cloth https://amzn.to/2Ptuxp2

• pie crust cutters https://amzn.to/2MrOHSt

• scalloped crust cutter https://amzn.to/3Jf4psN

• pie plate https://amzn.to/2o479lz

• tapioca flour https://amzn.to/3oCfCvY

• turbinado sugar https://amzn.to/3GJfZLc

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Sour Cherry Pie

makes one 9-inch pie

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• double crust recipe (here)

• 2 pounds sour cherries, stemmed and pitted (fresh or frozen)

• 1/3 cup tapioca starch or flour

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• juice and zest of 1 lemon

• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

• optional egg wash and turbinado sugar for the crust

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F and place rack in center position.

2. Roll bottom crust and place in glass or ceramic pie plate.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the cherries, tapioca, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt; pour into prepared pie plate.

4. Roll top crust and cut into 1/2-inch thick strips, place on pie filling, weaving to form a lattice crust (as shown); trim excess crust from pie plate.

5. Place pie plate on half sheet pan and brush top crust with beaten egg wash (whole egg and 1 tablespoon of water) or cream; sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

6. Bake pie for 60-75 minutes, or until the filling bubbles; cover edges of pie with foil if it starts to get too brown.

Blueberry Crostata for Two

Sometimes I'm in the mood for pie, but if there aren't enough family members around to consume said pie, and rather than have an entire pie calling my name at all hours of the night, I opt to make a tiny, rustic, free-form pie known as a crostata (if you want to be Italian) or a galette (if you want to be French).

Start by rolling out your favorite pie crust recipe.  A single pie crust recipe is enough to make two of these crostatas. 

Check out my Super Flaky All-Butter Pie Crust tutorial HERE if you want to make the flakiest pie crust ever and you don't mind getting your hands dirty.

Check out my All-Butter Pie Crust tutorial HERE if you prefer the ease and speed of making your pie crust using a food processor.

For the recipe we're making today, you'll need a 10-inch circle of pie dough.  You can keep it rustic if you like, or you can cut it into a perfect circle if that's how you roll.

Place the 10-inch circle of dough on a quarter sheet pan that is lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat.  Despite the photo above, and the fact that I think silicone baking mats produce the best results 99% of the time, I actually prefer parchment paper for this recipe.  Using parchment allows the bottom crust to bake up a bit more crispy.

Back to the recipe - you'll need blueberries, fresh or frozen.

And some lemon zest.  

Here's a tip - next time you squeeze fresh lemon juice, pop the used lemon halves into the freezer.  You'll always have lemon zest on hand.

Just grab one of your frozen lemon shells and grate it using a microplane grater.

Lemons and blueberries are best friends.

Add sugar, finely ground tapioca starch, and just a pinch of fine salt. 

Note:  If you only have pearl tapioca starch in your pantry, you can pulse it in a spice grinder.

Stir the blueberries, lemon zest, sugar, tapioca, and salt together well.

Place the berry mixture in the center of the pie crust.

Dot the filling with butter and fold up the edges of the crust as shown.  Pop the whole thing in the fridge and chill well for 2 hours before baking.  

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Just before baking, brush the crostata with milk, cream, beaten egg, egg white, or any combination thereof.

This step is optional, but I like to follow the egg wash with a sprinkling of either sanding sugar or turbinado sugar.  

See how pretty?  I can't wait!

Items needed to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• quarter sheet pan https://amzn.to/2L68Rkl

• parchment rounds https://amzn.to/2O1jiU2

• microplane grater https://amzn.to/2NlWUUa

• adjustable cake ring https://amzn.to/2zN2mNJ

• sanding sugar https://amzn.to/3gCH9IZ

• turbinado sugar https://amzn.to/34nOCtb

• magnetic measuring spoons https://amzn.to/2JwpBeA

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Blueberry Crostata for Two

makes one 6-inch crostata (2 servings)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• single pie crust (recipe and how-to photos here)

• 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, finely ground

• 2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar (depending on how sweet the berries are)

• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

• pinch of fine salt

• 1 teaspoon butter, cut into small bits

• optional: beaten egg, milk, or cream to brush over crostata

• optional: turbinado or sanding sugar to sprinkle over crostata

Directions

1. Roll enough pie crust to make a 9-inch round; place on a silpat-lined quarter sheet pan and chill until needed (wrap remaining crust well and freeze for use later).

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the blueberries, sugar, tapioca, and lemon zest; stir well to combine.

3. Place the berry mixture in the center of the crust; spreading it in an even layer that measures 6 inches wide.

4. Pull the remaining crust over the top of the blueberries, overlapping as shown in the photos; chill for 1 to 2 hours before baking.

5. Preheat the oven to 400F.

6. Just before baking, dot the berries with the butter, brush the crust with beaten egg, milk, or cream, and sprinkle with turbinado or sanding sugar.

7. Bake for 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and filling is hot and bubbly.

8. Remove crostata from oven and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.