Cherry Pie

Ingredients

4 cups sour cherries, frozen and pitted
a pinch of salt
1 1/3 cup white sugar
3 heaping Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup cold water
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions

Combine cherries, salt and sugar in a pan and stir together. Bring to a boil.

Mix cornstarch with some cold water whisking to remove lumps.

When cherries are boiling, add the starch mixture while stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Continue to stir the filling as it bubbles, just until the juices are clear. (When the filling looks clear, it's fully cooked. Over-cooking will start to break down the filling. Cornstarch thickens, and will continue to become thicker as your mixture cools. Do not make it as thick when hot as you would like it to be when it has cooled, or it will be too thick.)

Allow to cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour the cooled cherry mixture into the crust and dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Crimp and flute edges. Pierce top crust with a fork to allow air to escape as pie is baking.

Bake pie on middle shelf of oven for about 1 hour, or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

Let sit until room temperature before serving.


NOTE: It is important to allow the cooked filling to cool before baking the pie. My Mom's pie philosophy is that you can tell a pie is done when the filling bubbles. But in this case, a warm filling would bubble too soon and your pie crust would be underdone. Or if you left it in longer, you'd end up with a cherry mess in your oven.


This recipe is also linked on...

Everyday Sisters' Sharing Sundays: Red
Food on Friday: Cherries and Almonds