Classic Cherry Pie

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Start by pitting the cherries. This part is messy, so be prepared. I think this step is why canned cherries became popular. But it’s really not that bad, pretty easy to clean up, and definitely worth it. If you don’t have a cherry pitter (like me), there is another way. First, put on an apron or an old shirt (seriously). Dump the cherries onto a cutting board. One at a time, use the flat side of a large knife to gently mash each cherry then set it aside. Do this to all the cherries. Then go through and remove the stems and pits, which should be nicely loosened and easy to pull out. After that, it’s simple. Just dump the pitted cherries into a bowl, add the sugar, cornstarch, salt, extracts, and water, and mix well.

Using your favorite pie shell recipe (I used The Perfect Pie Crust from the Pioneer Woman), layer a pastry into the bottom of a pie pan. Pour the cherries into the pie (juice and all) and dot the cherries with the butter. Roll out the top layer of pastry and place it on top of pie. Cut the extra dough off, seal the edges with a pinch or fork, and cut two slits (or a “C” for cherry) into the top to vent. As a garnish, I cut out two cherry shapes from the dough then rolled some more dough to make the stems and placed them on top. Then I beat an egg and brushed the top and edges of the pie with it to give it a nice golden brown color. To finish, I sprinkled some coarse sugar on top of the egg wash before putting it into the oven.

Let bake for about 30-45 minutes, or until the crust is a nice golden color. You might want to put a foil-lined baking sheet on the bottom rack, just to be safe. Mine boiled over and now I have baking soda sprinkled on the bottom of my oven. Don’t do that.