sweetie pie

Lately my husband has been such a sweetheart I thought I’d bake him a pie.  Wait a minute- me make a homemade pie? Those of you who know me know that I’m not very skilled when it comes to baking. But just because I’m not terribly accomplished at something doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give it a try. Now I’m not suggesting I’ll go hog wild into complicated territory. The probability that I’ll crash and burn is likely. When it comes to making this pie I am going to breakdown the components. Then I’ll see which ones I can most likely master, and outsource those where I’m pretty sure I’ll fall short.

This post is not for those expert bakers with secret family recipes for crusts that have been handed down for generations.  But if you are one of the many out there who are saying “heck yeah- I want to bake a pie this summer and I haven’t a clue how to actually make one” then read on.

Making a piecrust from scratch is a pain in the … Store bought crusts taste like cardboard.

So you can only imagine how thrilled I was to discover Trader Joe’s frozen piecrusts. Now before you scoff and roll your eyes go out and buy a package. It is sweet and flakey. No one will ever know you didn’t knead and roll and curse and cry over this crust. Trust me it’s remarkable, just make sure that you allow enough time to thaw it properly.

At the market cherries from Washington State have arrived. A cherry pie- how sweet is that? Then I thought about pitting all those cherries and thought again.  Wait a minute; didn’t I see pitted cherries in the freezer section of Trader Joe’s?

Hey don’t roll your eyes. I am going to cook my filling and bake my pie. That qualifies it as “homemade”.  In fact I gave slices of my finished pie to several people who stopped by my house and they all said it was one of the best homemade cherry pies they had ever had.

Here’s my rocking cherry pie recipe.

Place the thawed cherries with their juices in a medium saucepan.

Cover and cook over medium-heat until the cherries lose considerable juice, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch and a big pinch of salt.

Pour this mixture into the hot cherries and mix well.

Add the almond extract.

Return the mixture to the stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. If the filling is too thick, add a little water, too thin, add a little more cornstarch.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Drape one of the thawed piecrusts into an 8 to 9-inch pie pan.

Pour the cooled cherry mixture into the crust. Dot with one and half tablespoons butter.

Moisten edge of bottom crust. Place top crust on, trim off excess with a sharp paring knife.

Flute the edge of the pie by pinching the top and bottom crusts together. Make a few slits in the middle of the crust for steam to escape.

Sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar.

Place the pie on a foil covered rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 50 minutes until golden.

Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

What could possibly top a slice like this?