Go Back
+ servings
Print

Sour Cherry Pie with Lattice Crust

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Author Si Foster, A Bountiful Kitchen

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

  1. Turn oven on to 400 degrees and set rack on lowest setting in oven.
  2. 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.
  3. Set the filling aside while the pastry is made.
  4. Place 2 cups of all purpose flour into a medium size bowl.
  5. Add salt and Crisco.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. When the dough comes together, separate into two pieces. Roll out the bottom crust, place in 9.5 inch pie plate.
  9. 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.
  10. Seal edges of pie. Brush with egg, sprinkle with coarse or regular granulated sugar.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.