Cherry Pie

Every so often, I get mesmerised by the photolicious creations I see at blogs and tell myself, I am bookmarking this to try as soon as possible. However, this always get side tracked and even forgotten once other priorities at work, not to mention plain tardiness set in. I have thought about this to myself so often - so many lovely dishes yet so little time to cook - not to mention so little calorie allowance to take them in...

I chanced upon Dana's lovely blog, One Haute Plate last week while reading Amelia's blog. Dana's latest post featured a cobbler/pie made with seasonal cherries. I have never really baked with cherries but have always liked the tartness of cherries in pastry. Cherries must be in season now for I am actually seeing these being sold at the vegetable stall at the wet market here.

Using Dana's Recipe, I decided to prepare 2 variations :

1) the lazy cobbler style where I simply placed the cherries in a little casserole and top it with a piece of pastry.

2) the mini pie version where the cherries are placed in a pie shell.

The cobbler style has a rustic appeal to it but had me stumped when I tried to photograph it.  The pie version, turned out well and was a breeze to photograph. The baked cherries were tart and delicious but what really delighted me was the flakiness of the pastry. I was expecting a texture akin to a typical sweet tart dough but was pleasantly suprised by the light and flaky pastry. If you could peer closely at the photos, you may be able to catch the flaky layers in the cross section of the pastry.

Absolutely delightful and  I can't wait to bake some more...

Recipe (from One Haute Plate, halved recipe)

Fresh cherries, pitted, 350g

Sugar , 2-3  tbsp (I cut down the sugar)
Cornstarch, 1.5 tbsp
Water, 1 tbsp
lemon juice, fresh, 1/2 tbsp

All-purpose flour, 165g
Salt, Pinch
Butter, chilled, unsalted, 113.5g
Ice water  1-2 tbsp
Sugar, for sprinkling

Method :

-Wash and pit cherries. Place in large mixing bowl and add cornstarch, sugar, water, and lemon juice. Mix together and set aside for 10+ minutes.

-Mix flour and salt, and using a fork, pastry cutter, or better yet, Cuisinart, blend flour mixture and butter together until crumbly.
-Slowly blend in 2-3 tbsp iced water until mixture adheres together, but is not too sticky. Add a little more water if necessary. Refrigerate for 10 min when finished.
-Set oven to 200C and butter a pie or casserole dish. Stir cherry mixture and transfer to dish.
-Roll out dough and use a cookie cutter to create 2-4 inch shapes of your choice (a water glass can stand in for this if need be). Layer dough shapes evenly with a 1/4-1/2 inch overlay to insure even baking.
-Sprinkle crust with sugar and bake for 45-55 minutes or until filling has gelled and the crust has browned. (I omitted this)