try pie, try!

When come back, bring pie! - Weebl

Yesterday I got a request from a family friend to make a cherry pie for her family's Thanksgiving dinner. While I was flattered that she trusts my baking skills, I also felt a stab of fear and guilt. It's true I love to bake. And it's true I love pie. But I'm afraid to say... with much chagrin... that I myself have never really baked a pie. 

Well, it's about time I learn.

So last evening turned into an experiment in cherry pie-making. The idea I'm currently running with is a basic from-scratch pie crust, cherry filling (canned for now, until I can get my hands on some of the cherries from my grandpa's cherry tree) with a hint of apricot brandy, and a crumb topping, drizzled with white chocolate.

approved by Major Yum

Major's Cherry Pie

Prep time: 1 hour

Bake time: 45 min

Crust:

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 T sugar

1 tsp salt

8 T (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 C ice water

Sift dry ingredients together. Put the butter pieces on top and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Once chilled, cut butter in with pastry blender (or two forks or knives, or your fingers). Add ice water a tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork after each addition, until the dough holds when pinched (you may need more or less than ¼ cup of water). Form into a ball and refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle on a floured surface. Transfer to an un-greased pie plate, trim off any excess dough, and flute the edges if you like.

Filling:

2 cans (21 oz. each) cherry pie filling

1 T brandy (I used apricot flavoured)

Stir together. Pour into unbaked pie crust.

Bake pie in preheated 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove and cover edge of crust with foil.

Crumb topping:

1/2 C all-purpose flour

1/3 C ground walnuts

5 T sugar

4 T butter, softened

Stir dry ingredients together, then cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over pie filling. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until topping begins to turn golden in places. Remove and cool.

Drizzle:

1/4 C white chocolate chips

Place chips in a plastic zipper bag. Microwave at 20 second intervals until chips are melted. Snip the corner of the bag off and drizzle over the cooled pie.

finished product

This actually turned out rather well! The filling may be a bit too loose, but then again that could be due to the fact we (my call for taste testers was not unanswered) cut into the pie before it was entirely cool. The crust, which I was really worried about, was not only much less complicated than I had anticipated, but decently tasty (just need to work on the prettiness of it), and the crumb topping was delicious.

Well, it's about time to wrap this up and dedicate my writing time to a term paper on John Milton. But in the spirit of the upcoming holiday, I have to say I'm thankful for friends, for learning, and for evenings of pie and wine!