A Better Than Prize Winning Cherry Pie

This weekend I made what might be the most scrumptious cherry pie that has ever been made. It was just sweet enough to be pleasant, but not tooth-achingly sweet like pies made with canned pie filling tend to be.

I would have loved to have made it from fresh cherries, but they were too expensive to get enough for a pie, so I went with the canned cherries that are in the fruit aisle – NOT pie filling. There were three different kinds of cherries to choose from. I took a can of tart cherries and a can of cherries that were in a heavy syrup (neither one had high fructose corn syrup). I was worried that the$ two cans (one was 15 oz. and the other was 14.5 oz.) wouldn’t be enough for the pie, but it actually was the perfect amount.

The recipe I based my pie on was titled “Prize Winning Cherry Pie.” I made a few modifications to it, and, all modesty aside, I think my pie would have beaten the one from the recipe.

Better-than-Prize-Winning Cherry Pie

• Double pie crust – enough for a top and bottom crust of one 9″ pie
• 2 15-oz cans pitted, red cherries (see above for comments on what I used)
• 3/4 c + 1/4 c cherry juice (drained/reserved from canned cherries)
• 1/3 c flour
• 1/2 c sugar (you might need more or less depending on whether your canned cherries are in syrup or not)
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1 T butter
• 1 t almond extract
• pinch salt

Line your pie plate with the bottom crust – being careful to gently lay the dough in without stretching. Trim only if necessary. You want about 1/2″ – 1″ of extra dough around the rim to help seal the top crust on. Refrigerate.

Drain the cans of cherries, saving 1 cup of the juice. I got exactly 1 cup from the cherries I drained. If you’re a little shy of a cup, add enough water to equal the 1 cup you need.

Pour 3/4 cup of the cherry juice in a small pan and bring to a boil. Whisk the flour into the remaining 1/4 c cherry juice. When the juice in the pan comes to a boil, add in the flour/cherry juice mixture, stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken almost immediately. Cook for a couple of minutes, then slowly add in the sugar. Cook 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add in remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Mix in cherries. Set mixture aside to cool for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out pastry for top crust.  If making lattice top, cut into strips.

Pour cooled cherry mixture into pie crust.  Cover with top crust, crimp top and bottom crusts together. If you didn’t make a lattice top, cut several steam/vent holes in top.

Place pie in oven on middle rack. Place a baking sheet on the rack directly below to catch any filling that might overflow. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn oven temperature down to 350 degrees and continue baking for 25-35 minutes.

The crust should be dark golden brown, top and bottom (obviously the bottom crust can only be seen if you’re using a glass pie pan). Don’t be afraid to leave the pie in the oven a bit longer if it just doesn’t look done.

Remove pie from oven and set on a cooling rack. Best served at room temperature or slightly warm with ice cream.