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My review
Perfect Cherry Pie
USA WEEKEND columnist Pam Anderson
"Cherry pie is just about the easiest fruit pie to make. Sour cherries--the kind you need for pie--are rarely available fresh or frozen, so the canned variety usually is the only option for most cooks. Not only do canned cherries make good pies, but there's also no peeling, coring, seeding, pitting or slicing the fruit. Just drain, dump, sweeten, flavor and thicken, and you're in business."
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Ingredients
servings 436Original recipe yields 10 servings (1 (9 inch) pie)
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- US
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Directions
{{model.addEditText}} Print- Mix flour, 2 Tbs. sugar and salt in a food processor. Add 8 Tbs. frozen butter and pulse 4 times, 1 long second each time. Drop shortening and cream cheese into flour mixture; pulse another 4 or 5 times, 1 long second each, until fats are the size of peas and fine gravel.
- Dump mixture into a medium bowl; rub through clean fingertips to blend. Stir in water with a rubber spatula until dough clumps form. Press dough with your palm to form a ball, then divide in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap, pressing to form thick disks. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- Adjust oven rack to lowest position and place a pizza stone or four 9-inch quarry tiles (from a hardware store) on rack to form an 18-inch square. Preheat to 400 degrees.
- In a large saucepan, cook 1 cup cherry juice, 1 cup sugar, potato starch and a pinch of salt over medium-low heat; stir with a rubber spatula until a very thick paste forms. Scrape paste into cherries in a bowl. Add almond extract; stir to combine.
- Set a dough disk on a floured work surface. Roll into a 14-inch circle. Fold in half and quickly lift into a 9-inch Pyrex pie plate (not deep-dish). Unfold. Fit dough into pie plate so it is not stretched in any way. Refrigerate.
- Roll remaining dough disk into a 12-inch circle. Remove pie shell from refrigerator, add fruit filling, and dot with 1 Tb. butter. Fold dough circle in half; quickly lift onto filling and unfold. Trim all around to 1/2-inch beyond lip of pie plate. Roll overhanging dough under with fingertips; flute.
- Set an 18-inch square of heavy-duty foil on tiles or pizza stone. Set pie on foil and bake until crust just starts to color, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, brush with egg white, and sprinkle with 1 1/2 Tbs. sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes longer. Bring foil up around pie to loosely cover edges. Bake until filling bubbles, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack.
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Footnotes
- Copyright 2004 USA WEEKEND and columnist Pam Anderson. All rights reserved.
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Reviews
Read all reviews 2430 Ratings
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Most helpful positive review
4/12/2005
I am no pie baker!!! But this pie was so easy and delicious!!! The easiest pie crust I ever made. The pie looked just like the picture!!!!!It is worth trying. Only one drawback...the cherries co...
Most helpful critical review
10/6/2008
I tried this recipe, thinking that the cream cheese in the crust may prove interesting. I wasn't impressed at all. If you like a standard flaky pie crust, chances are that you wont like this r...
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10/6/2008
I tried this recipe, thinking that the cream cheese in the crust may prove interesting. I wasn't impressed at all. If you like a standard flaky pie crust, chances are that you wont like this r...
4/12/2005
I am no pie baker!!! But this pie was so easy and delicious!!! The easiest pie crust I ever made. The pie looked just like the picture!!!!!It is worth trying. Only one drawback...the cherries co...
9/2/2005
One of the best pie crusts ever. I tried this recipe out of one of Pam Anderson's cookbooks, and this pie is phenomenal. It's a "blow-your-mother-in-law-away" recipe.
7/16/2008
There's a reason this pie is called "Perfect Cherry Pie". Absolutely everything about it truly is perfect. The crust is perfect-flavorful and flaky. The filling is perfect-thick and sweet and ...
10/21/2005
I have only made the crust, which I think is absolutely wonderful I use it as a crostata crust, this recipe makes a good size crostata, just use your favorite fruit filling, mine is apple cinnam...
2/18/2008
Incredibly delicious substantial crust and very tangy cherry filling. I didn't have the oven tiles, but baked on a flat pan and it cooked properly. After cooling an hour, we cut the first piece...
4/9/2007
I made this pie as instructed and it turned out beautifully. Next time I would combine my potato starch and sugar before adding the juice as I had a few lumps and had to run it through a strain...
6/30/2008
Absolutely amazing pie. The crust is the best I have ever made myself. I made this out of my grandparent's cherries from their cherry tree, so I suggest to ANYONE USING FRESH CHERRIES to add abo...
12/13/2007
Oh wow! This was a really great cherry pie that isn't too overly tart (like so many are). The only change that I made was that I had an extra Granny Smith apple left over from making apple pies...