With a cherry on top

  • <b>FOOD FINDS | </b>By Deanna Duff For the Weekly Herald
  • Tuesday, July 24, 2012 6:37pm

Fresh cherries are summer’s juicy, little gems. Bursting with flavor and color, they’re great plucked from the tree or prepared as a sweet or savory dish. However, for the myriad of options, it’s hard to beat the classic cherry pie.

“This is an honest cherry pie. Just fruit, sugar and a touch of vanilla,” says Piper Davis, co-owner of Grand Central Bakery. “My favorite pies feature the fruit. My approach is bake with the best fruit you can find and do as little as possible.”

This recipe is available in the “T.G.I. Pie Day” cookbook recently published by the Washington State Fruit Commission and free to the public at http://nwcherries.com/T.G.I.Pie-Day. It’s one of 11 recipes from local pie professionals. From the smell of freshly-baked pie to the last forkful of goodness, these delish desserts are slices of heaven!

Honest Cherry Pie

Ingredients

2 8-ounce disks of all-butter pie dough (can be purchased at Grand Central Bakery)

4 cups fresh Northwest cherries (if fresh is unavailable, frozen or canned with juice)

¾ cup white sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons instant tapioca or corn starch

½ teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Combine cherries and sugar. Pour off a ½ cup of cherry juice and add almond extract and lemon juice. Dissolve tapioca or corn starch and salt in cherry juice mixture and then return starch to filling.

2. Roll out bottom crust. Use the pan as a guide by inverting the pan onto rolled-out crust and cutting a circle about an inch wider than the pan. Place bottom crust into pan and fill with cherries.

3. Roll top out and cut into 8 strips. Weave lattice top and crimp edges.

4. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes or until filling is bubbling and crust is nice and golden brown.

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