Sweet Red Cherry Pie

Sweet Red Cherry Pie. Summer at its best. That is unless you count the time I used dish soap so I could go faster on our Slip & Slide.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen our kids laugh as hard as they did that day nor have I embarrassed myself more – at least not while covered in bubbles. On that slippery slope, maybe it’s best we get back to the pie.

Sweet Red Cherry Pie

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Sprinkle cold water over the crumbly dough and process again until sticks together but is still a wee bit crumbly.

Divide dough in half and form each half into balls.

Roll out the first ball of dough until large enough to cover the bottom of your pie pan. Use flour to prevent it from sticking to your counter.

Gently fold crust into fourths so that it is easier to move from the counter to your pie pan. Push down so that it sits in pan nicely.

Par bake bottom pie crust for 13-15 minutes to prevent a soggy bottom crust.

Pie Filling

• 2 1/2 pounds sweet red cherries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 3/4 cup bourbon (adds a lovely flavor but can replace with water if desired)

Slice cherries half, remove the pit from each one, and place in a large bowl. This is a messy but peaceful job. Stir in remaining pie filling ingredients. After the bottom pie crust has had a chance to cool after par-baking, add pie filling.

Add to the top pie crust. You can place the remaining rolled-out pie crust on top of the pie & cut a few slits in it to allow steam to release or you can do a fancy lattice top crust.

Trim the edges.

Pinch pie edges or use a leaf or flower-shaped mini cookie cutter to cut out shapes with the remaining dough. Place all around the edge with a bit of overlap.  Press down a bit as you go so they hold well. You can just leave the extra crust on and pinch the dough all the way around, but I like the look of a cookie-cutter edge.

Brush the entire top crust with one beaten egg so that the crust will be shiny and golden when baked.

Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 325°F and bake another 40 minutes.

If the looks like it might get too dark, just lay a piece of foil over it for the remaining baking time. Also, if your oven doesn’t bake evenly, be sure to rotate pie during baking time.

Yep, the only thing better (and more dangerous) is a Slip & Slide used with an abundance of dish soap.