Sunday, March 15, 2015

Sour Cherry Pie


My second fruit pie.  I'm beginning to feel like Raymond feels about cookies--why are there so many fruit pies in this book?  I'm also beginning to feel like Raymond when he gamely bakes a cookie and then decides he really likes it.  I'll admit it.  I liked the Black and Blue pie, and now I find out I like the Sour Cherry pie.  Even with canned cherries, which surely must be third or fourth on the list of most desirable sources of tart cherries.


On the cans, the cherries look bright red.  (And they're called "red tart cherries").  I wasn't expecting the brilliant and unreal red of maraschino cherries but I was hoping for something a little better than the sickly pink I saw when I opened the can.


Fortunately, they were water-packed, and the water must have picked up some of the color missing from the cherries, so when I mixed the juice with the cherries, cornstarch, and sugar, the mixture got a little less sickly-looking.  I toyed with the idea of adding a little food coloring, but I decided just to see what happened.


They didn't get much better, so I decided to wait and see what happened when I baked the pie.

Now we talk about the pie crust.  Making and rolling out the pie crust is usually where I go ballistic, but since Rose so kindly devised and introduced us to the wonders of cream cheese pie crust, my ballistic level has gone way down.  Some would say I'm downright serene, although I guess, in reality, serene is a word used only by me.  Jim would say I'm less volatile.


Rose's pie plate was a nice treat to get for myself, because it means I don't have to fuss with making a decorative crust, which, frankly, never looked all that decorative.


I still have jagged edges after I roll something out, with inlets and ravines.  At least my inlets and ravines are all 1/8-inch thick, thanks to the pastry wands.  I want to get Rose's new rolling pin too.
My hope, which is not borne out by experience, is that if I get enough gadgets and tools, I'll never have to actually improve.


Let's talk a little bit about the lattice top.  I could not think of any reason to require this other than torture.  It's hard enough to get two pie crusts to go together in such a way that people don't have an urge to giggle when they see it.  I could only imagine a worse fate for the lattice.  Some of my lattice strips broke apart just sitting on the counter.  It was scary to think about what they might do when I lifted them up.


One down, thirteen to go.


Here's where it starts to get tricky.  I tried to remember how my mom did her cherry pies--the only ones she made with a lattice.  Where is it written that cherry pies must have lattice tops?  I thought about topping the pie with lattice strips shaped into the numerals "3.14," but that seemed even more difficult.  There was nothing I could do at this point but trudge ahead.


No one was more surprised than I was when I finished the braiding and it didn't look horrible.  There are definitely some missteps along the way, but it's not the mess I thought it would be.


We had only two guests for dinner.  At dessert, my daughter said, "Just a small piece.  I don't like pie that much."  She also said, "Don't even bother giving JJ pie.  He'll just eat the ice cream."


But he decided he'd try the pie.  "This is yummy, Lulu.  I do like pie."  Words to melt a grandmother's heart.  His mother decided she liked pie too.  And Jim.  And me.  But if I can't complain about pie crusts and fruit pies, what am I going to find to complain about?



I'm sure there'll be something.  But not this.  This is yummy.

21 comments:

  1. Oh, I needed this giggle!..."less volatile". So then Zen doesn't apply to pie crust, yet? Pie crust Nirvana is a state to aspire. That has to be the all time cutest picture of your grandson. The last picture of pie with the ice cream makes me want another slice. Nine inch pies are too small, me thinkest.

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  2. Compared to how I usually get when making pies, I would call myself a zen master here.

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    1. That is encouraging, then! I'll keep at it. I really wish I had a pie tutor. It's pretty incredible really.... There was not one fail with this pie after all the tinkering and substitutions for the fresh cherries which is what this recipe was calibrated for. I don't consider Glori's a fail. That was an absentee baking stone.

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  3. ב''ה

    This is a wonderful pi. Cute kid. I love how your crust came out.

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  4. Way to go Lulu! (your grandson is so adorable!)

    We loved this pie too. Will definitely be buying sour cherries in bulk this summer. If you get a chance, come check out my pie.

    Patricia @ ButterYum
    http://www.butteryum.org/roses-alpha-bakers/2015/3/14/tbb-sour-cherry-pie-pi-day

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  5. LOL! Why does your grandson calls you Lulu? Is Lulu is another way of calling grandma in another language?
    Now that you mentioned it, I too notice now that usually lattice top pies are cherry pies! Why huh? I laughed when you said now you have nothing to complain about... it's ok, there will always be something to complain about later..at least I always have something to complain about.. I think your lattice looks great. I too have problem with lattice breaking apart.. I joined up some too..like what you did and covered it up..LOL!

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    1. My daughter wanted a cuter name for me than "grandma" (which is itself pretty cute), and she read that the first syllable of the grandmother's middle name, repeated, can make a good name. My middle name is Louise, hence lou-lou or Lulu.

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    2. Such a nice story behind it! Thanks for sharing! Can I call you LuLu too?

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    3. Yes, as long as I can keep calling you Faithy.

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  6. Hi Marie, Isn't this pie crust recipe a gem? It just never seems to fail. Your cherries look to be a beautiful vibrant color after it's all baked up. Really, it looks beautiful. Congrats!

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  7. Everybody liked it. What a success story!! Your fluted pie looks beautiful. I love Rose's cream cheese pie crust. Too bad we're no cherry pie fans.
    Btw, for a quick second, the canned cherries looked like olives to me. That was weird (olive pie?) :o)

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  8. The lattice strips were my nemesis. I only managed to cut 13, maybe that's why my pie didn't turn out as good as yours!

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  9. very beautiful, how cute is your grandson..

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  10. It looks perfect! I have pastry envy. And the look on JJ's face is priceless.

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  11. aww, JJ, so sweet! you made his first favorite pie. your lattice looks perfect. you are making friends with pie dough!

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  12. Like Glori, I got 13 strips as well.. and I use the ruler! I think by the end of this bake along, we are going to become pie experts.. I can tell, from the last fruit pie to this - huge improvement. And I love the background story of your grandmother name.

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  13. Marie, your lattice pie looks fantastic. I think you should get the featured photo this week.

    I love that shot of JJ! He is so cute and looked so happy with a slice of pie! Thanks for sharing the story of Lulu. I too also wondered - I think that's a great idea your daughter had.

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  14. Marie, your pie looks great! I had the same reaction when I opened the can of cherries. They looked quite suspicious to me, so I put them in a bowl in the fridge and opened the frozen bag of cherries. I'm glad to see they resulted in a good pie. Perhaps I should make another pie with all the leftover can cherries and crust dough I have in the fridge. 6" pies don't require much crust! BTW, great picture!

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