National Cherry Day
So today is apparently National Cherry Day. A couple of little facts are that surprisingly Cherries have some of the highest levels of disease fighting antioxidants you find in fruit! In Washington in America they annually celebrate this lovely fruit for TWO WEEKS! Not only do they taste great but you can use their pips (stones) as an alternative to a hot water bottle (less chance of getting burned!) In the olden days (couple of centuries ago a very posh and fancy dessert was to bring to the table a cherry tree in a miniature pot and for the guests to eat them straight off the tree. And I think we all know the game played with the left over stones....Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man thief. However I don’t think anything taste better than a homemade cherry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or drowned in cream!
For the pastry
300 g plain flour
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 large pinches salt
170 g chilled unsalted butter
170 g cream cheese
60-80 ml single or double cream
For the filling
1 kg pitted sour or sweet cherries
235 g caster sugar, if using sour cherries, 140g if using sweet
1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 small lemons, juice only
3 rounded tbsp cornflour
To serve
cream, vanilla or white chocolate ice cream
1. For the pastry: sift the flour into a bowl with the icing sugar and salt.
2. Using a pair of knives or a pastry blender, cut the butter and cream cheese into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, with the odd larger knobble here and there.
3. Pour in enough cream to mix to a soft dough. Gather up the dough to form a ball, knead very briefly to smooth out, divide in two, then chill both portions in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
4. For the filling: mix the cherries with all the remaining ingredients. Let the mixture stand for 20 minutes, then stir once more.
5. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7.
6. Roll out half the dough to line a 23cm pie plate or shallow tart tin. Roll out the second half of the dough to form a circle to cover the tin. Put the circle on a sheet of baking paper and chill both the dough-lined tin and the circle in the fridge until needed.
7. Pile the cherries into the lined pie plate until it becomes a gently swelling mound.
8. Brush the edges of the pastry crust with water, then lay the pastry lid on top. Trim the edges, then crimp together firmly. Cut a hole in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C/gas 4 and bake for a further 30-40 minutes until the thickened cherry juices bubble up through the central steam hole. If the pastry is darkening too rapidly, cover loosely with tin foil.
2. Using a pair of knives or a pastry blender, cut the butter and cream cheese into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, with the odd larger knobble here and there.
3. Pour in enough cream to mix to a soft dough. Gather up the dough to form a ball, knead very briefly to smooth out, divide in two, then chill both portions in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
4. For the filling: mix the cherries with all the remaining ingredients. Let the mixture stand for 20 minutes, then stir once more.
5. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7.
6. Roll out half the dough to line a 23cm pie plate or shallow tart tin. Roll out the second half of the dough to form a circle to cover the tin. Put the circle on a sheet of baking paper and chill both the dough-lined tin and the circle in the fridge until needed.
7. Pile the cherries into the lined pie plate until it becomes a gently swelling mound.
8. Brush the edges of the pastry crust with water, then lay the pastry lid on top. Trim the edges, then crimp together firmly. Cut a hole in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C/gas 4 and bake for a further 30-40 minutes until the thickened cherry juices bubble up through the central steam hole. If the pastry is darkening too rapidly, cover loosely with tin foil.
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