Cherry Pie
A double-crust pie built for cherries' acidity, with enough starch to survive it.
Makes 1 9-inch pie · Prep 25 min · Bake 50 min
Ingredients
Filling
- 5 cups Cherries, pitted — sour/pie cherries preferred; fresh or frozen and thawed
- 1 cup Granulated sugar — less if using sweet cherries — start with 3/4 cup
- 3/8 cup Cornstarch — more than a milder fruit filling needs, to compensate for the acidity
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp Almond extract
Pastry
- 2 Basic pie pastry dough, two discs
Finish
- 1 Egg, beaten
Instructions
Filling
- Toss the cherries with the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and almond extract if using, and let sit until the sugar draws out some juice. (Tip: This head-start maceration lets you gauge how much liquid the cherries are actually releasing before it's sealed inside the pie.)
Assemble
- Roll out one disc of pastry and fit into a 9-inch pie pan. Fill with the cherry mixture and top with the second disc (or a lattice), crimping and cutting vents if using a solid top.
Bake
- Brush with egg wash and bake at 220°C (425°F) for 20 minutes, then reduce to 190°C (375°F) and continue until the crust is deeply golden and the filling bubbles thickly through the vents. (Tip: Look for thick, slow bubbling, not thin, watery liquid — that's your visual cue that the starch has actually activated and thickened.)
Cool
- Cool at least 3 hours before slicing.
Tips
- Filling stayed runny even after cooling: Cherries' acidity can genuinely need more starch than the same volume of a milder fruit. If this happens again, add another tablespoon of cornstarch next time — this is one of the few fruits in this cookbook where erring toward more starch is the safer default.
- Sour vs. sweet cherries: True pie (sour) cherries are far more tart and need close to the full sugar amount; sweet eating cherries need considerably less — taste the macerated mixture before assembling and adjust.