Cherry Pie Recipe

How to Make a Cherry Pie

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 230°C (or 210°C fan forced).
  2. Sift 2 cups flour into a large mixing bowl. Cut in cubed butter with a fork, until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir in enough water with the fork, to just moisten the flour and bring your dough together.
  3. Divide the pastry dough in half and shape into balls. Flatten one pastry ball slightly with a fork, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until needed.
  4. Roll out remaining dough ball on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 30cm circle. Fold into quarters. Place the dough into a 22cm pie dish. Gently unfold the pastry dough and press into the pie dish firmly against the bottom and sides. Trim the crust 1.5cm from the edge of pie dish. Set aside.
  5. Combine 1 cup caster sugar, ⅓ cup flour and ⅛ teaspoon of salt in a bowl. Add cherries and orange zest. Toss lightly to coat and spoon into prepared pie pastry.
  6. Roll out remaining pastry dough ball a 28cm circle (approximately). With a sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut 10 evenly-sized strips.
  7. Place 5 strips across the filling in pie pan, approximately 2.5cm apart. Place the remaining strips at right angles to the strips already in place. Trim the strips. Fold the trimmed edge of pie crust over the bottom of the strips and build up a seal. With your fingers, gently crimp  the edges.
  8. Using a pastry brush, brush the strips with milk and sprinkle with cater sugar. Cover the end of the crust with a 5cm strip of aluminium foil.
  9. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling in the centre.
  10. During the last 5 minutes of cooling, carefully remove the foil.
  11. Serve hot on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Tip: If you find your pie is browning too quickly, you can loosely place a sheet of aluminium foil over the top of the cherry pie half way through the baking process