Cherry Pie for Pi Day

Today is Pi Day (3/14 in US date format), being the first three digits of the mathematical value, Pi. I finally remembered to make a pie for the occasion, joining in all the online fun.

I decided to make a cherry pie using some fresh frozen cherries I had. This pie was not the most successful pie I have ever made, as the filling was quite runny (the recipe insisted on 3 cups of liquid):

However, it tasted pretty good anyway, despite resembling a pie that had been run over by a car once I cut into it:

I will publish  the recipe for completeness (someone gave it to me from a photocopy), and you can decide for yourself whether to reduce the liquid (I recommend doing so because it was very runny):

Pie crust

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup Crisco
1/4 cup ice water

Mix the flour and Crisco together with a pastry cutter until it looks like small peas. Add the water and bring the mixture together with your hands.  Roll the dough into a ball, divide it in two, and roll each ball out with a rolling pin between 2 sheets of baking paper until it is large enough to line an 8” pie tin.  Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Filling

3 cups fresh frozen cherries, thawed and juice retained
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup water
4 tablespoons cornflour

Pit the cherries and drain the juice out of them into a bowl. The recipe says this should yield 2 cups of juice - I only got 1 cup.  Add the water to the juice to make up to 3 cups of liquid (which I believe is way too much).

Take 1 cup of cherry juice mixture and whisk in the cornflour.

Put the remaining 2 cups of juice, 2/3 cup of the sugar and the salt into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil.  Add the remaining 1 cup of juice, and cook the liquid until it becomes clear and thickens slightly.  Add the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and mix to combine.

Place the drained cherries into a bowl and pour over the liquid, and stir to blend. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally  to avoid scum forming on top.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Line a greased 8” pie tin with one sheet of pastry. Pour the cherry mixture into the pastry crust. With the remaining sheet of pastry, form a lattice crust on top the cherry mixture. Brush the top of the lattice crust with a beaten egg.

Bake the pie in the oven for 35-40 minutes then remove from the oven. Allow the pie to cool on a wire rack to room temperature before serving.