See Also: Desserts · Pies and Tarts
Cherry Pie and Ice Cream
From Dorothy McNett's recipes at www.dorothymcnett.com. George Washington seemed to have had the first ice cream freezer on record. And Thomas Jefferson enjoyed ice cream and Baked Alaska, and other meringue dishes as well. So bake this cherry pie and serve it with your own homemade ice cream, or get some good quality already made vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
for the crust:
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled
1/2 cup very cold water
about 1/4 cup flour for rolling the crust
for the filling:
4-5 cups pitted cherries (fresh is best...otherwise use canned or frozen)
1/3 to 1 cup sugar, depending on the cherries
zest of 1 orange or lemon
1 tablespoon lemon or orange juice
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon cream or milk for brushing
1 teaspoon sugar for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using a food processor with the steel chopping blade in place, whirl the 2 cups of flour, salt, and sugar to blend. Add the butter in chunks and process just enough to "cut" the butter into small pieces, and then the water. Process just until the dough seems to want to form a ball. Try not to over-blend. Remove the dough to a floured pastry cloth and cut into two parts, one slightly larger than the other. Sprinkle a pastry cloth with some flour. Roll out the larger of the two balls of dough into a circle larger than your pan. Carefully lift it into the pan. Now roll out the second ball and set it aside while you prepare the filling. In a large bowl combine the cherries, sugar, zest, juice, flour, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well and pile into the pastry lined pan. Dot with the butter. Place the top crust over the cherries, sealing the edges. Cut a few slits into the crust to allow steam to escape during the baking. Brush the top with milk or cream, sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees, and then reduce heat and bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
OR, make sure you assemble the pie in a glass or ceramic pie dish, and then while the oven is preheating to 425 degrees, pop the pie into your microwave oven on high for 10 minutes. Then transfer to the hot oven, reduce the heat to 375 degrees, and bake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until nicely browned. The bottom crust will be crisper with this method.
Recipe created 1997-02-17.
