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Before he joined the Scooby Gang, our favorite refrigerator repairman—Bud the Eisbieber—ran screaming for the hills the second he laid eyes on Nick. And by “hills,” I mean “local bar.” There he proceeded to brag to his buddies about the Grimm he saw, then had to prove it by showing them Nick’s house. Nick did not take kindly to these late-night tire-squealing visits, and made sure Bud spread the word that the Grimm’s house was to be left alone. Bud, being the adorable nervous wreck that he is, apologized not by giving Nick and Juliette space, but by showering them with please-don’t-decapitate-me gifts. One such gift was his wife’s cherry pie.
I’ve never made a cherry pie before, and certainly never made a lattice-crust pie. But when one is appeasing a Grimm, one doesn’t cut corners. I’m also adding a bit of nutmeg to the filling, because I’m going for a slight woody undertone as an homage to the Eisbiebers.
Ingredients
Crust:
2 1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup very cold butter
1 tsp lemon juice
6-8 tbsp ice water
Filling:
2 16 oz cans pitted tart cherries
1/3 cup liquid from drained cherries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon butter, cut into very small pieces to dot on pie
Directions
Step 1: All hail the mighty food processor, and its glorious dough blade attachment! Dump in the flour and salt and give ‘em a quick pulse. Then add the butter and let the processor work its magic until you’ve got sandy-looking crumbly bits. (Tip! Chop your butter up and stick it in the freezer for awhile before you get started, to help it stay nice and cold while you’re working with it.)
Step 2: Put the lemon juice into a 3/4 cup measure and fill it the rest of the way with ice water. Yes, ice water. The coldness helps keep the little chunks of butter from melting completely into the dough, which is what gives you nice flakey layers later on. This is also why we love the food processor, because it doesn’t have body heat like I do and thus doesn’t melt the butter while it’s working with the dough. This is the one time when a cold, robotic touch is favorable.
Wait, what was I saying? Oh yeah.
Add the lemony ice water slowly to the sandy crumbly mixture, pulsing as you go. Add just enough water to make the dough cohesive, but not too sticky. (The acid in the lemon juice will help the gluten relax, which gives you a nicer texture later.)
Add the lemony ice water slowly to the sandy crumbly mixture, pulsing as you go. Add just enough water to make the dough cohesive, but not too sticky. (The acid in the lemon juice will help the gluten relax, which gives you a nicer texture later.)
Step 3: Gather the dough into a ball, knead it a few times so it knows who’s boss, and divide it in half. Roll each half into a ball and flatten them into discs. Wrap them up with plastic wrap and let them rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Step 4: Contemplate the meaning of life, and/or watch silly cat videos online.
Step 5: Roll out the disc of dough. (If you haven’t done this before, you start in the center and work your way outwards. Picture your pie dough like it’s a compass. Start going north from center, then south from center, then east from center, then west from center. Or some other pattern of those four, as long as you balance each roll with an equal and opposite roll.)
Step 6: Transfer the dough to the pie pan. My favorite way to do this is to roll it up halfway onto the rolling pin, then move the pin over the pan and unroll it. It’ll probably still crack a little and you’ll need to pinch those back together, but there’s less cracking than if you just try to scrape up the dough and frisbee it onto the pan.
Step 7: Use a sharp paring knife to trim off the excess dough. Yeah, look at that smooth, sexy pie crust edge.
Step 8: Roll out the second disc of dough. Holy crap, you guys, how did I ever do this without a pastry scraper? Note to self: get a pastry scraper, so you don’t have to steal Anna’s.
Step 9: Using the awesome roller thingy that you got for a quarter at that garage sale last summer, (which you weren’t going to buy but the other people at the sale made you get because you were the only one there who knew what it was for,) cut the dough into more-or-less even strips. (In my case…less.) If you’ve got any excess dough, (you probably will,) wrap it up and refrigerate it for later. You can make an itty-bitty pie tomorrow!
Step 10: Oh right, crap! Preheat the oven to 425˚F.
Step 11: Dump all the tasty filling stuff EXCEPT for the butter into a medium saucepan. Stir it gently to make sure it’s all smoothly combined, but don’t beat up the cherries too hard. They don’t like that. They like it soft.
Step 12: Cook the filling stuff over medium-low heat (okay medium—I’m impatient) until the sugar dissolves and the juice starts to simmer. Let it simmer for 1 minute and then set it aside.
Step 13: Uh…I was supposed to let the filling cool while I cut the lattice strips, huh? But I already cut the lattice strips. Um…(*jazz hands?*)
Step 14: After your Broadway dance number is over, pour the cherry filling stuff into the pie crust.
C: “Scoop the boiled chicken gizzards into the pan.”
Elle: “Chicken gizzards? What?”
C: “That’s what they look like. Little brains, or…something.”
Step 15: Smooth your little gizzard brains over to make an even surface. Cut the tablespoon of butter into tiny pieces and dot them over top of the filling.
Step 16: And now…(*drumroll*)…for the lattice weaving. I have no idea how to do this. Uh…I guess I just kinda lay a bunch of strips out north/south facing. Then I take another strip and stick one end onto the east edge of the crust, and then lift up every other north/south strip as I go, laying it across the…hey! This kinda works!
Okay, that was not nearly as scary as I thought it’d be. Probably largely due to the fact that the dough is cooperating. I kind of love this dough recipe. It’s not too sticky or anything.
Step 17: Trim off the overlapping edges of the lattice strips. Press the edges into the rest of the crust to meld them together. Meld, meld, meld. Fork the circumference of the crust; this makes a pretty crimped pattern and also helps with the melding process.
Step 18: Decide you don’t feel like scraping burnt cherry juice off the bottom of the oven today. Set the pie pan on a baking sheet (just in case!) and put it in the oven at 425˚ for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 350˚ and continue baking for another 35-40 minutes. (35 was just about perfect for me.)
Step 19: OMIGOD I AM THE GODDESS OF PIE! Would you LOOK at this sexy thing?! (Also, it turns out the baking sheet was a good idea, ‘cause molten cherry drippings.)
Step 20: Let the pie cool completely before you serve it. Because, like I said, molten cherry drippings. Molten things are generally bad for your face.
Result: Okay yeah, that’s pretty much just as delicious as it looks. (*OPEN FACE, INSERT PIE*) Definitely making this one again.
Coming up next week, a far more sinister dessert from the same episode: Adalind’s Zaubertrank Cookies!
Adapted from Boulder Locavore.
Ingredients
Crust:
2 1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup very cold butter
1 tsp lemon juice
6-8 tbsp ice water
Filling:
2 16 oz cans pitted tart cherries
1/3 cup liquid from drained cherries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon butter, cut into very small pieces to dot on pie
Directions
Crust:
Using the dough blade attachment in your food processor, whisk together the flour and salt. Cut in the butter to make coarse, sandy-looking crumbs.
Mix lemon juice with the first 6 tbsp of ice water. Add the water slowly to the flour/butter mixture, pulsing as you go. Add just enough water to make the dough cohesive, but not too sticky.
Gather dough into a ball, knead 2-3 times, then divide in half. Flatten each half into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Let rest in refrigerator for at least 30 min. (Or wrap and freeze for later use.)
Filling:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. (Note: individual oven temperatures may vary. You should check your oven for accuracy and keep a close eye on your pie's progress until you know how your oven performs.)
Drain cherries, reserving 1/3 cup liquid. Place both cherries and liquid into a large saucepan.
Stir in granulated sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and almond extract. Cook over medium-low heat until sugar is fully dissolved. Simmer for an additional minute and set aside.
Remove pie dough from refrigerator. On a clean, floured surface, (or on waxed paper,) roll out one of the discs to 12-14 inches in diameter. Fit the crust into a 9” pie pan. Roll out the second crust and cut into ½ inch wide strips.
Pour cherry mixture into pie crust, dot with butter, and weave pastry strips on top of the filling.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes until pie is brown and bubbly.
Cool completely and serve.
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