Apple Cherry Pie

Well, it took me three cookbooks to make a pie today.  Jim’s cousin and their friends are coming to see the house for the first time tonight.  They were all going to dinner for Larry’s birthday.  I said do not order dessert and I would bake Larry a birthday cake.  Larry likes pie better, so pie it is.  He likes lemon, apple or cherry.  Too humid for meringue, so I thought apple and cherry sounded good.  I found one on line and for some reason our printer has stopped working, so I started with Arkansas Sweetly Spiced Apple Crumb Pie from the Loveless Café desserts book.  I used Martha’s Pies and Tarts for the pastry and consulted the Joy of Cooking for the thickening agent.  I did not want a crumb topping; I wanted a two crust pie.  I also wanted cherries and apples combined and I had sweet cherries.  Cherry pie recipes seemed to all want sour cherries.   The best thing to use in fruit pies is quick cooking tapioca.  I was out so I used cornstarch which resulted in a runny pie.  The crust and the flavor of the cherry apple pie were great. 

Ingredients for the Crust:    

Makes enough for 2 crust for a 10”pie  

2 ½ C all-purpose flour

1 t salt

1 t granulated sugar

1C (2 sticks) unsalted butter cut into small pieces

¼ t ½ C ice water

Directions:

1.      Put flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. 

2.      Add the butter and pulse for approximately 10 times or until it resembles coarse meal. 

3.      I added ¼ C of ice water 1 T at a time pulsing as I added the water.  Mine looked good after

        6 T.

4.      Turn out onto wax paper and divide in half, with one slightly larger for the bottom crust. 

5.      Form into flat disks and refrigerate while you make the filling. 

Ingredients for the Filling:

5 apples (I had 8 C fruit total)

4 C cherries pitted (I used sweet cherries)

1 lemon zested and juiced

¾ C sugar

2 T cornstarch (quick cooking tapioca is better)

1 t ground cinnamon

½ t freshly grated nutmeg

½ t ground cardamom

2 T butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg

2 T heavy cream

Directions:

1.      Pitting the cherries was the worst.  That accomplished I cut and peeled the apples and combined them in a bowl with the lemon zest and juice.

2.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

3.      I mixed the cornstarch with the sugar and added it and all the spices, mixing well.

4.      Rolled out the bottom crust and put in the pie pan. 

5.      Topped with the small pieces of butter.

6.      Next I rolled the top crust.  I have a roller that turns the crust into lace.  I used this rather than making vent holes.  Top with the crust and crimp the edges.

7.      Whisk the egg and cream together and brush on the crust. 

8.      Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack. 

This pie serves 8 generous servings.