Cherry Pie question

[eleny]

How do you thicken your cherry pies? I've found some recipes that call for tapioca. But in the comments section, some bakers noted how tapioca adds a flavor to the cherries that can detract.

Our seasonal green grocer sells small tubs of pitted sour cherries. So I'll get one and make as many pies as I can and freeze some. So I hope to get it right the first time.

P.S. Yesterday, I made a pineapple pie for the neighbor who likes those. The fluted edge came out decent since I found a video that showed how to do it. In the past I'd cut off the excess and then make an edge with fingers or a fork. But now I let the excess dough hang there until I make the fluting then I slice it off.

I made extra filling & dough, so I made a pineapple turnover for the new neighbors across the street. They were intrigued when they learned I was making a pie for Jess. So they get to try it out without it being a whole pie. Their favorite is cherry.

[hippywife]

1. Not sure but the ATK method of

adding grated green apple might work for cherries as it did blueberries. It does still use tapioca but a lesser amount. The idea is too cook half of the fruit to almost a jam consistency and then combine with the rest of the fresh fruit and add tapioca, sugar and a peeled grated green apple to use the pectin from it as the rest of your thickener.

[eleny]

4. well now, that's interesting

i never heard of using apple for thickening but it makes sense. i'm going to look into this.

[hippywife]

7. It was a video in my email from them

so I posted the instructions here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

If you try it, let us know if it works with the cherries, too.

[Warpy]

10. Don't forget to put the grated apple into a towel

and wring the juice out first, or it'll offer a lot of water in addition to the pectin.

I saw that last Saturday, too, and it's an important step.

[hippywife]

11. It's in the instructions

at the link I posted above.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. I know bakiong is science and cooking is art, but ....... pie filling is in between

Hence, a typical Stinky recipe ...... ingredients with no precise measurements .....

Cherries, pitted, reserve the juice

Sugar. (I am sure Splenda can be used, too, but I'm not sure how.)

Water

Cornstarch <---- the thickener

Almond extract or kirschwassser or both (completely optional)

Cook the cherries and sugar. Some people make a simple syrup and cook that and then add the cherries. I see no need for the extra step. Add enough water to the cherries and sugar to get the volume you want.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the kirsch (or water or the juice from the cherries, cooled down) and add to the cherries and stir. Cook till thick.

You can add the almond extract wherever you wish, but I suggest doing it late in the process so oyu can check the flavor and add more if needed.

[eleny]

3. thanks...

splenda has a baking product that's half sugar/half splenda. you use half the amount of sugar that any recipe calls for. i've used it in all the pies i've made and so far, so good. there seems to be more flavor of the fruit instead of sugar dominating. i thought that was odd since splenda is sweeter than sugar. but i'm happy about how it turns out.

[supernova]

5. Cornstarch is great

for thickening fruit fillings. It completely disappears. You know you've done it right when all you see is clear juice with the consistency of hand lotion, more or less.

[eleny]

9. i just got some fresh the other day and used it for the pineapple pie

so cornstarch it is!

[grasswire]

6. fresh sour cherries are hard to find!

Lucky you. Are they frozen by chance? If so, I would let them thaw before baking in a pie.

When I was baking pies at the coffee house, I thickened the cherry filling on the stove, turned it into the shell, and baked it. That way you can control the thickening more easily than trying to let it happen inside the pie while it is baking.

I used a combination of flour and some cornstarch, and juice from the thawed cherries (I never was able to get fresh ones.) I don't like tapioca in pies. If you make the filling on the stove, you can always add a little slurry of some more cornstarch in a bit of water to thicken it more if necessary.

Be sure to finish off your thickened filling with a tsp of butter while it is still hot. That gives a lovely sheen to the filling.

The trick for you is going to be getting juice from the fresh cherries to cook on top of the stove. You could try the other way of mixing your sugar and 2-3T of flour-cornstarch mixture together and tossing the fresh fruit in it then dumping into the shell and dabbing with butter. That would take some experimentation for best results -- some cherries release more juice than others.

Okay, we want pictures of cherry pie!

[eleny]

8. thanks!

i got an 8 lb tub of frozen, pitted montmorency pie cherries. they're from payton, utah so just one state away from here. the store is open until the first freeze. i'm not sure if they're fresh from this year. but the tubs of cherries seem to turn over pretty quick. i tasted one and it's firm.

i'll take pics. next thing to learn will be doing an easy type lattice top. but maybe not right now. i tried it for the first pineapple pie and i couldn't even cut the lines straight. and there was no peeling them off the waxed paper. seems like it's an art.

[cbayer]

12. I pit and sugar the cherries, then let them sit for a few hours.

They will release a lot of their juice, which then can be cooked down to a thick syrup (just the juice, not the cherries)!

I have also used cornstarch, but I was so happy with this method, that I have stuck with it.

[eleny]

13. These cherries were frozen

They thawed overnight and I have a fair amount of juice in the 8 lb tub. So I'll measure out my cherries for the pie and then some juice and cook it down with the sugar. Then add the cherries in to heat it all the way through.

Thanks! I'm going to make four cherry pies and will use your method for a couple. This is going to be fun.

[grasswire]

14. be aware that your cherries are going to release some more juice...

...as they are baking. Just FYI.

[eleny]

15. Then perhaps I ought to divide the sweetener

I can start the cherries & sugar in the morning. Then later I can cook the juice with the sugar. Combine when I'm ready to bake.