Can she bake a cherry pie.....
8 years ago
Well, of course she can, not quite as quick as a cat can wink an eye, because first we had to pick the cherries. We finished that, and my bakers of the day went to work:
They decided they didn't want just any old pie, they wanted little individual pies, so we used a wide mouth canning jar ring to cut muffin cup sized pie crusts. The remaining dough was rolled and cut into stars, hearts and flowers for the top of the "pies".
(To be continued, because Houzz won't let me post more than one picture when starting a thread)
Annie
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8 years agoRelated Discussions
Sour pie cherries in Oswego County, NY
Comments (2)Sujiwan: 1. The two common types of sour cherries are the Richmond type (of which Montmorency is one variety, Meteor is another), and the English Morello type, of which Northstar is one variety, as well as the new Surefire variety. Richmond type cherries have yellow flesh and lighter colored juice, while the Morellos have dark red interiors and produce a much darker juice. Montmorency is historically the dominant sour cherry variety planted in the U.S., so if you can remember that your grandmother's cherries had yellow interiors, the trees were almost certainly Montmorency if planted in the 50's or 60's. If the cherries were dark red inside they could have been the old English Morello, though that is less likely. The genetic dwarf Northstar was not yet around at that time. I have grown both types, and prefer the Montmorency, although there are enthusiastic partisans of the darker Morello cherries, which are more common in Europe. 2. The only major pest of sour cherries is the cherry fruit fly, which may not have been present at your grandmother's location, but is fairly common in the the mid-Atlantic region. I have seen it on my own cherries at pitting time, where it shows up as a small white worm surrounded by black frass, close to the pit. The best ways to deal with the cherry fruit fly are to pick the trees clean at the end of the season, which prevents the larvae in infested cherries from dropping down to the ground to pupate. It is also helpful to hoe around the base of the trees once or twice during the winter, which exposes pupae in the ground to cold and drying and kills them. I still grow sour cherries, and almost never see the fruit fly today, although we pick and freeze over 25 quarts every season, and still have some to give to the neighbors. I do not spray sour cherry trees except for dormant treatments with oil and copper. This helps to prevent aphids, and the copper helps to delay onset of bacterial canker disease, which is responsible for the early demise of most cherry trees in the Mid-Atlantic region. Branches showing canker infection should be removed as soon as they are identified, since the cankers can spread. 3. Birds can show great interest in sour cherries, depending on the species you have around and their numbers. Robins and Mockingbirds are the most common customers for cherries here, although a mature cherry tree can be so productive that there are usually enough for both birds and people. That has certainly been the case for me. I don't think we lose more that about 10% of the cherries to birds. 4. A Montmorency cherry on a full-size rootstock such as Mahaleb or Mazzard can become quite large -- as much as 25-30 feet when mature -- which can put most of the cherries out of range of your ladder unless the tree is regularly pruned down. Montmorency on a dwarfing rootstock such as Gisela 5 may be more practical for a smaller yard, especially if you want to minimize future pruning. My personal preference is for the Meteor variety, a Richmond type that mimics Montmorency in every respect, but has some genetic dwarfing that keeps the tree at about 12-14 feet. Meteor is usually available from Gurney's Nursery, though I don't see it at many others. I have grown a large Montmorency (now removed) a couple of Northstars (removed due to bacterial diease), and currently have two Meteors, one fully 25 years old and one youngster of 5 years. The older tree has seen some canker, but I keep pruning it off and the tree keeps producing lots of cherries. 5. For Denninmi: If you had Northstar trees, you have grown Morello type cherries. I agree that the Northstar is particular canker prone, and checks out early. I also found the Morello cherries to be slightly smaller and more tart, although the dark juice is beautiful. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA...See MorePIE freeze.....after baking or unbaked
Comments (12)I do freeze most pies unbaked, but I'm thinking of fruit pies. For pecan, as mentioned, I would bake first and the same for pumpkin. I wouldn't even attempt to freeze coconut cream. The one risk with a pre-baked and frozen pumpkin is that, depending upon the recipe and how thoroughly the custard filling was baked, it might tend to weep upon thawing, softening the pastry. You might consider coating the pastry with egg white or a similar "sealer" to reduce the problem. Or, if you like the flavor, you might sprinkle the crust with crushed gingersnaps (not too many) to absorb any liquid. I would do a dry-run for my pumpkin recipe of choice and see how it handles freezing and thawing. I have had good luck flash-freezing, wrapping and stacking pie shells and then baking and filling the day of. For pumpkin custard, about 30 minutes of room-temperature thawing then filling and baking as per usual seems to work well. A pastry shell would hold its shape much better and be flakier if it were frozen and then baked. I did test that with a banana cream pie, warming the crust 30 minutes then pre-baking. For the pre-baking I did fill a roasting bag with pie weights and use that for part of the time. Then I removed it and allowed the crust to finish in the oven. This works perfectly for a "southern-style" crust where the "shrinking violet" syndrome seems always a risk. I have the temps and times if you'd like them. Carol...See MoreDo you have a never-fail recipe you use for cherry pie?
Comments (8)Growing up in my small hometown in Indiana, pie baking was an art and if you made a good pie, you could probably have a statue of yourself on the courthouse lawn! LOL! This recipe came from one of the many bake-offs the Home Extension office put on during the year. It is the recipe from a lady who was famous for her pies. She made them for the best restaurant in town and was the go-to person if you wanted pie for a special occasion. Her crust was made of lard and just about melted in your mouth. Anyway, here is her cherry pie recipe. It's the only one I use. I haven't made one in years (but now I'm craving) and the recipe doesn't give the oven temp and I don't remember??? CHERRY PIE 2 c. canned tart cherries, drained (save juice) 1 c. cherry juice 1 c. sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 3 Tbsp, flour 1/3 tsp. red food coloring (optional) 1/8 tsp. almond extract 1 Tbsp. butter Mix sugar, salt and flour together. Add cherry juice, food coloring and extract. Stir well. Carefully add cherries....See MoreCherry Pie
Comments (5)Here's the crust recipe. If you've never used lard, that's the secret: Use lard instead of butter or shortening. I know that's taboo, but boy, is it delicious. Just as you imagine pie crust to be - tender, tasty, flaky and easy to roll. I used butter, shortening or some combination of the two for years while my grandma chuckled and watched me struggle to roll it. She'd say, "just use lard." Her crusts were the standard for me and I was determined to make it work with butter & shortening, but mine were never as good as hers were with lard. I relished eating hers, but used b & s to make mine. Until.... For a double crust: 2 1/2 C all-purpose flour 1 tsp salt 1 C cold lard, (1/2 package, cut in small cubes) 1/3 to 1/2 C cold water Combine flour & salt, put in food processor. Scatter lard over dry ingredients and pulse 5 or 6 times. With a fork or narrow spatula lightly bring up the mixture in the bowl, drizzle 3 T water, then pulse 5 or 6 more times. Bring it up with the fork again, drizzle 2 more tablespoons water, pulse a few times until it forms clumps. Resist the temptation to over pulse...just get to the point where you have crumbs on the bottom of the bowl and one or two big clumps. If you think it's too dry, it's OK to add a few more drops water and pulse again. Form the mix into two balls, flatten them, wrap tightly and refrigerate at least half an hour. Flour the board and roll. Of course, Grandma did it with two forks, but I'll never master that! One of my kids is a vegetarian; I always make a butter and shortening crust for her when I make lard for the rest of us, so we get a good comparison that way. Her pie is good, but not as good as the lard pie. Since we don't eat THAT many pies, I figure we can get away with it. And, if you don't mind my saying so, I am renowned for my piecrusts. I always say "It's lard." Many times people think I'm joking and we don't pursue it - sort of as if they don't want to know. Sorry to get so long-winded, but I always feel like I have to justify....See More
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