1228. Sour Cherry Pie

Seeing the great success of our raspberry pie, I was conspicuously gifted two frozen packets of frozen sour cherries in obvious hope of recreating the experience. I am happy to report it was just as successful. In fact, it had all the tartness and moreishness of its predecessor, minus all the grit of raspberry seeds.
As the name aptly indicates, sour cherries are indeed sour. However, do not be dissuaded if you only have access to regular plump, dark, sweet cherries. Simply up the fresh lemon juice quote to 3-4 table spoons. Another lovely thing is that it really makes no difference if you use fresh or frozen. Maybe just bake for an extra five minutes if frozen.

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 Tbsp powder sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chilled butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup (about) ice water

Filling:
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup tapioca powder
1/4 tsp salt
5 cups (800g) whole pitted sour cherries
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp  butter
1 Tbsp milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 425F.
Make the filling: Mix together the sour cherries, sugar, tapioca, salt and lemon juice so the cherries are well coated. Set aside until ready to fill the pie.
To make the crust: Blend flour, powder sugar, and salt in large bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture using pastry blender or fork. Stir in just enough water with fork until dough holds together.
Divide dough in two; one ball should consist of 2/3 of the batter (this is the bottom crust) and the second should consist of the remaining 1/3 dough (this is for the top crust).
Roll dough (larger ball) from center outward into a circle 2-inches wider than pie plate on lightly floured surface for the bottom crust. Transfer dough to pie plate.
Fill unbaked pie crust with the mixed filling. Dot the surface with the butter.
Roll out remaining dough disk and form decoration of choice over the filling. Press edges together to seal and flute as desired.
Brush the crust with the milk.
Bake in preheated 425F oven for 15 minutes (20 minutes if using frozen cherries). Lower heat to 375F and bake one hour more.
Cool on a wire rack for 45 minutes to an hour before serving.

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