Cherry pie.

Ingredients

• 1 kg. cherries or picotas, according to season
• 200 g. sugar
• 30 g. flour or cornstarch, Maizena®, corn starch
• 1 vanilla pod
• For the cake batter: 500 g. wheat flour
• 250 g. butter
• 50 g. sugar
• 1 tbsp. of the juice of a lemon
• 7 tbsp. of water
• A pinch of salt
• For baking: 1 egg for painting
• Mold ø 23 cm

How to make a cherry pie. This  dessert recipe  is undoubtedly one of the emblematic desserts of the U.S.A. On countless occasions we have seen movies in which the main characters order a cherry pie at the roadside bar and enjoy it as if it were the best delicacy.

This is the cake, juicy inside, with a filling that takes the hiccups away and crunchy on the outside, with a  shortcrust pastry  special for this tart that you have to make.

The truth is that this tart is one of those surprising sweets. Despite the fact that the basis of its filling is almost one hundred percent, cherries or picotas, the final texture is not jam-like at all. The fruit is baked until bubbling, resulting in a totally delicious fruit syrup.

While the filling is already a delight, this tart would not be at all as great and tasty as it is, if it were not for the base dough. The texture and especially the taste of this homemade shortcrust pastry is impressive, tenfold.

You can find in the blog recipes with cherries that will surprise you. From this original  cherry strudel a classic cherry clafoutis or a traditional one  sponge cake with cherries . All of them delicious, I assure you. I encourage you to get to work with this cherry pie. It is a very simple cake that results in a very tasty sweet that will make you look like kings as soon as you share it with your family and friends, a delicious dessert.

Preparation of the cherry or picot filling

1. Wash the cherries with plenty of water.  We proceed to pit the cherries  as you can see in this video. Once boned, place them in a bowl and add the sugar. Stir well and let the fruit macerate for 8-12 hours to release all its juice.
2. I keep the cherries in the refrigerator during this process, so I make sure they are in perfect condition for the preparation of the cake. This way they won’t ferment in the summer heat either. Once the cherries or picotas have been macerated with the sugar, they will have released a lot of juice.
3. Add the seeds of the vanilla pod and the cornstarch. Stir well to integrate. We reserve.

Preparation of the dough for the tart base

1. To do this we must cut the butter, directly from the refrigerator, into small squares. Place the chopped butter in a bowl.
2. Add the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. We begin to mix the ingredients until a sand is formed. Add the water and lemon juice and continue mixing until a loose and homogeneous dough is obtained.
3. With your hands, compact the dough forming two portions, one for the base, larger, and the other for the lattice. Wrap each portion in cling film and store the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Until it has hardened.

Preparation of the cherry pie. Final presentation

1. Place the dough for the base of the cake between two baking papers to be able to work it without the danger of it sticking to the work surface or the rolling pin.
2. Roll out the dough until it is about 3 or 4 mm thick.
3. Place the dough in the chosen tart pan, in this case a 23 cm ø pan, keeping the baking paper on the bottom. This will prevent it from sticking to the mold, it will not be necessary to grease the mold and it will make it easier to remove from the mold.
4. Even out the edges of the cake, leaving the dough to overhang the mold by 0.5 cm. Fill the pie with the filling and set aside. Roll out the second piece of dough in the same way as the first. Once extended, cut strips of 1 to 1.5 cm. wide.
5. Place 4 strips of the same direction on the cake. We continue with the strips that will be perpendicular, placing each one in such a way as to form a lattice with the previous ones. In the video you can see clearly how to do it so that it looks perfect.
6. Brush the surface of the cake with beaten egg and bake in the oven. With the oven previously heated to 190º C, bake the cake with heat from below only, for 15 minutes. After this time, put the oven on high and low heat and bake for 45 minutes.
7. During baking, if we see that the top of the cake is too browned, we can cover it with aluminum foil.

Once the cake is ready, remove it from the oven and let it cool, without unmolding, on a wire rack. Once it is cold, we can unmold it and enjoy it.

You can see all the photos of the step by step of this  cherry pie recipe  in this album. Do not miss any detail and it will be delicious.