I loooove cherries. When in season I eat them by the bushel, and when their time is over tears roll down my cheeks. Sniff. D’s birthday is always during cherry season, so I make him a birthday cherry cake every year. I know, I spoil him a lot. I’ve been preparing French style clafoutis for years, but this time I chose to bake a very American cherry pie with some very Spanish cherries from the Valle del Jerte, in Extremadura. This valley is known for its delicious cherries. If you would like to read about this beautiful place, head here. The recipe is inspired in a Williams-Sonoma book, Pie&Tart.
- 400g AP flour
- 250g cold diced butter
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 100g chilled water
- 1 beaten egg for brushing the lattice
- 800g fresh pitted sweet cherries
- 180g sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- If you use fresh sweet cherries like me, you have to pit them and put them in a bowl with all the sugar and the seeds from the vanilla pod. Mix well and leave to marinate overnight for the cherries to release their juice.
- Prepare the shortcrust pastry. Place the flour, cold diced butter, sugar and salt in a food processor. Pulse till you get a crumbly mixture. Then add the chilled water and mix just until it coheres into a ball.
- Pat the dough into 2 flat rounds, one slightly larger than the other, wrap in plastic and leave to rest in the refrigerator, at least 2 hours for the gluten to relax.
- Roll the bigger portion and place it on a buttered and floured pie dish. I also prefer to place a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan, to make sure the pie does not stick.
- Put the pie base in the freezer for at least ½ hour. Roll the other portion into a rectangle, wrap in plastic and keep it aside in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 205°C (fan) / 220°C (no fan).
- Roll the dough for the lattice in a roughly rectangular shape to a thickness of about 2 mm. You must be able to obtain 16 to 18 strips of dough out of it.
- Now add the cornstarch to the cherries and toss well to combine.
- Remove the pie base from the freezer and distribute the cherry mixture. The lattice is formed by placing the dough strips over the cherries in a woven pattern. Beat the egg and brush the lattice top.
- Bake the pie in a low tray, with heat coming from beneath, for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature 180°C (fan) / 200°C (no fan). Bake for another 35-40 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the lattice golden.
- Take out and let cool on a rack, without unmolding because it is too fragile.
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