Is the mix of tart and sweet, the bright red color, the distinctive fruity flavor, or the tune from “Can you bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy” rolling around in my head that makes cherry pie my number one pie pick? Whatever the reason, homemade cherry pie made with real sour cherries, not the canned filling, is my absolute favorite.
Thanks to our neighbor’s generosity, our freezer is stocked with pie cherries galore. Which means they need to be used. Which means I baked a cherry pie. Which means it’s time to share the recipe with you.
Cherry Pie
Pastry for a nine inch, two crust pie.
5 – 6 cups tart, pitted pie cherries (if you don’t have fresh, buy frozen ones at the market)
1/2 – 1 cup sugar (depending on taste)
1/2 cup flour or 3 tablespoons cornstarch (cornstarch makes the juice clearer than flour)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line nine inch pie pan with bottom crust. In a medium bowl, blend sugar and flour or cornstarch. Add cherries and almond extract. Mix well. Pour into pie shell. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust and seal. Cut slits into top crust with a sharp knife. Dust with sugar.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 400 and bake for 30 – 45 minutes more, until fruit is hot and bubbly. (If crust gets too brown, cover top with a piece of aluminum foil.) Cool and serve warm with ice cream.
Heaven!
