Since my husband and I were married he has been begging me to make cherry pie. It’s not that I have anything against it, but I much prefer to eat raw cherries and they’re so expensive where I live that I only buy a small quantity once a year.
About a week ago I saw some cherries for $1.99 per pound so I snatched them up and followed through on my promise to make dear husband a mini cherry pie (the day after our 7th anniversary, July 24!). He said to me afterward while eating it ala mode, “I feel like I’m 16 and in the kitchen eating a pie my mom made for me.” Although being compared to one’s mother-in-law isn’t always positive (as in, “why can’t you make this like my mom used to make it”), I figured I’d take this as a compliment :)
So, if you don’t want to use all your precious cherries to make a pie, you can try my mini recipe in a 6 inch pie plate.
Mini Cherry Pie
3 cups sour or tart cherries, pitted
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
Pit the cherries (I bought and used this awesome pitter) and mix together with flour and sugar. You can cut the cherries into smaller pieces if you want but I was in a hurry so I left them whole. I let the mixture set for about 20 minutes while I make the pie crust so the cherries are moist and syrupy.
Pour into a pastry lined 6 inch pie dish and top with the remainder of your pie crust. Brush some egg wash (egg whites mixed with a bit of water) over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Pinch the edges together, poke a few holes in the top with a fork and slide into the oven. This recipe calls for the pie to be baked at 425 F for 35-45 minutes but in retrospect I think the crust was a bit too crispy after baking it 40 minutes so I might do less next time.
I took a Betty Crocker cookbook pie crust that claimed to be “easy to roll and handle” and added my own twist by using part Hard Whole White Wheat flour.
Buttermilk Whole Wheat Pie Crust*
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup hard whole white wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening
3 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. vegetable oil (yup, this recipe has lots of kinds of fat in it)
1/3 cup buttermilk
Mix flour and salt in bowl. Cut in shortening and butter until particles are size of small peas.
Mix in oil and buttermilk with fork until all flour is moistened and leaves side of bowl. Divide in half and in half again if making this small pie. Refridgerate leftovers for later.
Roll out pastry and line bottom of small pie pan. Add filling and top with other crust.
*This recipe makes enough crust for a regular size two-crust pie. I used half of it for my actual recipe and the other half we rolled out, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and baked in the oven for a snack.
This post is linked to Balancing Beauty and Bedlam’s Tasty Tuesday
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