Cherry Filling

unbaked pie pastry for a double crust
5 cups fresh pie (tart) cherries, pitted
1 cup sugar
3¼ tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 drops almond extract
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a Pyrex pie pan with unbaked pie pastry. Pick over and hull the berries, discarding any spoilt ones. Combine the berries, tapioca, sugar and almond drops in a mixing bowl, and turn into the prepared shell. Top with a woven lattice crust, trimming and crimping the edges neatly. Tuck bits of butter within each of the lattice interstices to melt into a shiny glaze.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 40 to 45 minutes, until the crust is golden. Cool to lukewarm before serving so that the berry liquid has a chance to gel.


Nana’s 2-Crust Pie Pastry

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/3 cup cold water

Combine flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, chop in shortening until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle with the cold water, and combine lightly and quickly with a 2-tined fork. Press the dough together lightly but firmly. It should adhere into a ball. If not, add a bit more water. Divide into 2 portions, one slightly larger than the other.

Place the large ball on a lightly floured plastic sheet (the flexible kind used as cutting boards.) Pat to flatten, then roll from the center outwards in all directions with a floured rolling pin. Stop once or twice to loosen, re-flour lightly and flip the pastry. Roll into a round 1/8-inch thick and 2 inches larger than the top of the pie pan.

Roll the pastry lightly up onto the rolling pin, then unroll it into the pie pan. Press it gently into place, without stretching. Trim the edge slightly larger than the rim of the pan. Repair any gaps or holes with patches of rolled dough, pressing lightly to join them. Keep the pan chilled in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Pile the pastry trimmings on the remaining ball of dough, and roll out a circle slightly bigger than the pie pan top. If a lattice top is planned, cut the dough with a pinking wheel into ½ inch strips. Store the line pie plate and the plastic rolling sheet with the strips still in place on it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

I prefer a Pyrex pie pan even though it cooks more slowly than black metal because I can see when the bottom and sides brown.

(Grow your own pie cherries! See the article on summer fruits in the Demos 'Home' section.)