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Sweet Cherry Pie

A sweet cherry pie sliced open.

5 from 3 reviews

This Sweet Cherry Pie, made using frozen cherries, is the best dessert to make regardless of what season it is!  Sweet cherries are paired with lemon and tart cherry juice to balance it out, accented with almond extract, and tucked inside a flaky lattice crust. The best type of thickener for this pie is quick-cooking tapioca. Quick-cooking tapioca is great because it works by absorbing the juicy cherries within the granules to create a thick filling. You could replace the tapioca with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch.

Ingredients

For Crust:

  • 1 batch (2-9″ pie crusts) Pie Pastry (see notes for alternatives)

For Cherry Filling:

  • 7 cups (30 ounces) frozen sweet cherries
  • ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup tart cherry juice
  • 2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca (see notes for substitute)
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • pinch sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
  • Eggwash (1 egg whisked together with 1 tablespoon water)
  • Coarse sanding sugar (optional)

Instructions

  1. Prepare the pastry, let rest overnight, if possible.
  2. Preheat oven to 425ºF and place an oven rack in the lower part of the oven.
  3. Roll out the pastry: Roll out 1 pie pastry disk to an 11″ circle. Fit the pastry in a 9” pie plate, making sure to press the pastry into the sides and the bottom. Roll out the second pastry and cut strips to make a lattice, if desired. Or just roll out the top for a full crust. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  4. Make the filling: In a large bowl add the cherries, granulated sugar, cherry juice, lemon juice, tapioca, almond extract and salt and mix to combine. Let sit to macerate for 15 – 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cherries will defrost in this timeframe.
  5. Place the cherry pie filling and all the juices inside of the pie plate fitted with pastry. Gently press down on the filling to eliminate any gaps between the fruit and dot the pie with the pieces of butter.
  6. You can top the pie with a lattice, or top with the rolled-out pie dough with a few slits or small shapes stamped out of it to let steam escape.
  7. Brush the crust with an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
  8. Bake on the lowest rack for 25 minutes.
  9. Lower the oven temperature to 400ºF. If the crust is browning, cover the outer edges with aluminum foil or a pie shield, leaving the middle of the crust exposed. Bake for another 35-40 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling and the temperature of the middle of the pie reaches above 200ºF.
  10. Let the pie cool about at least an hour, to let the juices set up.

Notes

If you don't want to purchase tart cherry juice, you could substitute orange juice. It results in a slightly different flavor but it is still lovely!

The tapioca can be swapped for 3 tablespoons of cornstarch.

This pie tastes best with a homemade buttery pie crust. There are a few options on this website:

Keywords: Sweet Cherry Pie, Frozen Cherry Pie