The pie bug has officially bitten me, and
while strolling through the farmer’s market yesterday some bright red cherries
called out to me. I do love cherry pie, probably
because it reminds me of two of my favorite things: summer and diners. While I enjoy all forms of cherry
pie (from
individual ‘hand pies’ to freeform galettes) my favorite is probably a
double-crust country fair style pie. But when it’s hot out, I don’t necessarily
want to be messing around too much with pie dough, so I opt for a simpler version
of the classic: a crumble-
topped pie that half pie, half crisp. The crust is my
basic pie dough, adapted from my book Diner
Desserts, and has butter and shortening in it. The butter is for flavor,
the shortening for flakiness. If you happen to be firmly in the
pie-crust-made-with-just-butter camp, though, by all means just use butter
(personally,
shortening is my friend, and I’m not afraid to use a bit of it
when necessary). The filling is a straight-forward one made with sweet
cherries, sugar, cornstarch and a little lemon zest to boost the flavor. The
crumble topping, which comes together quickly in the food processor, is made
with slivered almonds, brown sugar, butter and a bit of cinnamon, a combination
of flavors that works beautifully with cherries. Serve it with whipped cream,
whipped crème fraiche, or vanilla or almond ice cream for a little slice of
heaven.
