When Kevin and I bought a few pounds of fresh cherries the other day, I initially thought we’d just enjoy them raw. But once we got home, I’d started daydreaming about all the baked deliciousness that said cherries could result in. Plus, Kevin’s parents were coming to stay with us and we had to have something for dessert! And so, the quest for a cherry dessert recipe began.
I stumbled upon this one, and modified it just slightly. Thankfully, it was well worth the uber-tedious task of pitting all those cherries. I love that the cherries remain so fresh and intact (you don’t bake that portion of the pie). It really is an ideal summertime dessert.
(I wanted to serve the pie with whipped cream, so tried a version of whipped cream that uses a chilled mason jar to make it. Such a great idea, right?? Despite lots of shaking, my cream didn’t come together, so we just kind of drizzled it on the pie and I put the rest in the fridge, still in the jar. The next morning, I checked the cream, and it had totally set! It was amazingly fluffy and beautiful. So I’m not sure that I’m totally sold on this whipped cream in a jar thing, but I might give it another try, allowing some time for it to sit in the fridge before serving! Have any of y’all tried this whipped cream technique and had luck with it?)
Fresh Cherry Pie With Buttermilk Crust
Ingredients (for crust)
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced
- 1/8 cup buttermilk (keep on hand as you might need to add a bit more!)
Directions (for crust)
- Line a 9-inch pie pan with parchment paper and set aside. (I used my absolute FAVORITE pie pan, given to me by my friend Bethany. I love having excuses to use this pan! Mine has the “that last piece is mine” hidden quote.)
- Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add butter, and combine using your hands or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Add buttermilk and stir (or mix with hands) until dough is moistened. (You may need to add a touch more buttermilk to incorporate completely into the dry ingredients.)
- Press together, forming dough into a ball and then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for an hour. (While you’re waiting on the dough to chill, you can start pitting your cherries! See below.)
- Once chilled, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Roll dough out (using a rolling pin) on parchment paper to keep from sticking. The dough should be a bit thicker than traditional pie dough, so don’t worry about making it too thin. The result should be a pie crust-meets-biscuit layer of deliciousness.
- Place rolled dough into prepared pie pan and bake for 10-12 minutes (until edges are just starting to brown).
- Let crust cool completely and then remove parchment paper (placing the crust back into the pie pan).
Ingredients (for filling)
- 4 cups fresh cherries, pitted
- 1 cup white sugar
- 4 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup cold water
Directions (for filling)
- Pit the cherries, then place all but about 3/4 cup in the prepared crust.
- Mash the remaining cherries (I used my hands), and combine with sugar in a medium saucepan.
- Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water.
- Add cornstarch mixture to the boiling cherries, then reduce the heat and simmer mixture until thickened (about 6-8 minutes), stirring constantly.
- Spoon mixture over berries and spread to cover cherries on the top of the pie completely.
- Chill pie for several hours before serving.