Sour Cherry Pie with Lattice Crust is a cherry pie lover’s dream! This pie is made with sour cherries and flavored only with a little bit of almond (or vanilla), sugar and a dash of salt. I can’t get enough of this tart and sweet pie!
I remember my mom singing this song in her cute Japanese accent…
“Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she bake a cherry pie, Charming Billy?
She can bake a cherry pie, in the twinkling of an eye,
she’s a young one who cannot leaver her mother!”
I’m not sure these are the correct lyrics, but she and my dad always struck up this tune whenever anyone mentioned cherry pie! My dad loved cherry pie. Actually, dad loved almost any pie, which is where I’m sure I developed my love for pie. When our oldest daughter, Corrine was very young, my dad used to take her to his restaurant so she could have pie for breakfast. He told her he bought the restaurant so he could take her to get pie anytime they wished. Big time grandparent points there! Corrine made this Sour Cherry Pie with Lattice Crust last year for Thanksgiving and it was an instant hit.
Don’t you love the sweet and tart factor associated with pies like Fresh Apple Cranberry Pie and Rhubarb Pie? I absolutely love the contrast in flavors. Wrap that all up in a flaky pie crust and you have a winner. I topped this pie with a lattice crust because I like the way a wide lattice crust looks, and it’s way less work than cutting thin strips of dough to weave!
This lattice is topped with a simple egg wash for a pretty finish and then sprinkled with a little coarse sugar to add a bit of crunch and sweetness to the top crust. Although this pie looks like it took hours to make, the filling involves opening cans of tart cherries, adding a few ingredients and setting aside. Make the pastry and in a little over an hour, you can have this beautiful pie cooling in your kitchen!
Sour Cherry Pie with Lattice Crust
Ingredients
- pie filing:
- 3- 14.5 oz cans sour cherries in water (pitted) drained, reserving juice or about 5-5 1/2 cups cherries
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon juice from cherries
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons tapioca
- dash salt
- 1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
- crust:
- 2 cups flour plus more for rolling out
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup shortening Crisco* cut into tablespoon size pieces
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup cold water
- egg for top of curst
- coarse ground sugar or granulated sugar for top of crust
Instructions
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Turn oven on to 400 degrees and set rack on lowest setting in oven.
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Place the drained cherries, 1 1/4 cup sugar, dry tapioca, dash of salt and almond flavoring into a medium size bowl. Add 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon cherry juice and mix gently. The tapioca will appear as little white pieces in the filling, but will dissolve and thicken the filling as the pie bakes.
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Set the filling aside while the pastry is made.
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Place 2 cups of all purpose flour into a medium size bowl.
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Add salt and Crisco.
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Using a pastry cutter, cut the shortening into the flour using a cutting motion (back and forth). This takes a total of less than one minute. Do not stir the shortening. You should have little pebble-like pieces in the bowl when finished. You may also use your hands to break the pieces of shortening up into the dry ingredients.
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Pour 1/2 cup the water into the bowl all at once. Use a fork or spatula to fold the ingredients together. Add more water if needed to allow the flour, shortening and water to combine. This process takes less than a minute.
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When the dough comes together, separate into two pieces. Roll out the bottom crust, place in 9.5 inch pie plate.
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Stir the filling again to make sure the sugar and tapioca are evenly distributed, and pour the filing ingredients into the pie shell. Roll out top crust and cut into strips of desired thickness. Weave a lattice pattern on top of the pie.
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Seal edges of pie. Brush with egg, sprinkle with coarse or regular granulated sugar.
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Place the pie in the hot oven on top of a sheet of foil or thin cookie sheet to bake for approximately 45-55 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.
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Let cool on counter for 3 hours before cutting.
Recipe Notes
-I used canned sour cherries for this pie, but you may also use pitted frozen or fresh sour cherries. Each can yields about 1.5 cups of cherries. Sour cherries are found in the canned fruit section of your grocery. Do not use prepared canned cherry pie filling!
-When making the filling, the juice seems runny and excessive when poured into the pie shell (and should be baked immediately to prevent a soggy crust) but it will thicken when baked.
-If the pie is browning too quickly, loosely place a sheet of foil or tent foil over the top of the pie.
-I bake this pie for 50 minutes on the bottom rack in oven at 400 degrees.
-It is best to allow at least 3 -4 hours for cooling so the filling will have chance to set up! Often times when the filling is runny, the pie simply has not had enough time to cool down and solidify.
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Cherry Pie is my favorite! Can’t wait to try this although I’m not sure it can top your Apple Cranberry pie!
Steffanie,
I know exactly what you mean. I still think the Apple Cranberry is our favorite, but we are loving this recipe for Sour Cherry as well!
Thanks for being such a loyal follower of ABK! Happy Holidays,
xo
Si
We love this recipe! It’s all my dad requests for Father’s Day and his birthday because it tastes so much like the one his mom used to make!
One small note: in the ingredients list, it says “egg for curst” instead of crust 😉
Lily, there’s nothing like a homemade pie recipe that takes you back to those special moments. My dad LOVED cherry pie too and it’s definitely one of our family’s favorites. Thanks for pointing that out and for reading ABK!
xo,
Si
Is there a way to make this ahead of time? Can you keep the crust and filling separately made and then put together and bake on the day of? Or if made ahead of time, will it stay good for a few days? I am trying to figure out logistics for our Thanksgiving plans. This looks amazing and cherry pie is my favorite!
I wouldn’t make this pie more than a day ahead as the filling is very moist. You could make the bottom shell of the pie and roll out the top and leave it between sheets of plastic wrap in the fridge. The filling could also be made ahead and then allowed to sit on the counter top for about 45 minutes before putting the pie all together and baking. Let us know if you use these steps and how it turns out!
xo
Si
Si,
We made a trip to Perry, UT to check on cucumbers for pickling…not ready…BUT…we did come home with some wonderful sour cherries. (Montmorency variety). Oh my, the pies! They were made last night, and completely consumed today. These are celestial! Thank you for the recipe! Sending along a photo.
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I know that place is a hidden treasure! Sour cherries are so hard to find in the grocery store.
This pie is LIFE CHANGING. So super easy, but the flavor is to die for. I served it with simple vanilla bean ice cream and there wasn’t a single person in my family who wasn’t obsessed–those tart cherries are exactly what you hope for in a cherry pie! My mom even told me I should make it for Thanksgiving, which totally made my day! Thank you ABK! It’s my new favorite pie!
I love cherries and I always want to like cherry pie, but I am usually left underwhelmed. Not with this pie. It is sooo good. It is just the right mixture of tart and sweet, beautifully flaky crust and it was the pie I kept going back to first the rest of the time it was around for desert. We made it for Thanksgiving and Christmas last year and we will be doing it again. Love this pie! Thank you!
I can’t wait to try this and am certain this will be another ABK hit. Any reason this pie can’t be made ahead of time and frozen to retain freshness?
Hi Kelly,
The instructions to freeze pie are in the notes section of my Triple Berry Pie recipe. Hope that answers your freezing questions! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and thanks for reading ABK.
xo,
Si
Hi Si!
I’m completely new to pie baking. My family has requested I make cherry pie and I’d like to make your recipe. My question is do you remove the pits from the cherrys? I know it may seem like a dumb question and I do feel dumb for asking it. But I just wasn’t sure as to what to do with her pits.
Hi Cheyenne,
Yes, always use pitted cherries in pie! Most canned and frozen cherries purchased are already pitted, but check to make sure before using as filling!
I’d love to hear how your pie turns out!
XO
Si
Might be a dumb question, but I’ve never purchased tapioca in my life. Ha! When I look it up, it has tapioca pudding or tapioca flour. What am I getting exactly? Sour cherry pie is a fave of mine, excited to try this!
Rachel, I can see where that may be confusing! Tapioca is sold near the pudding in grocery stores. It’s usually in a red box and labeled “minute tapioca” Tapioca is a gluten-free thickener, and is considered to be a starch. The tapioca will not completely dissolve when making the filling, but will while baking. LMK how you like the recipe!
XO
Si