The cherry pie may be the one pie that represents summer the best. It is a little labor intensive, especially when you don’t have a cherry pitter. It is worth it though, even for a Homemade Cherry Pie for Two.
I don’t know what it is, but seeing cherries in the grocery store is a joy for me; I love cherries and can eat them continuously during the summer time. Standing over the sink and pop them in my mouth after rinsing them. A pie is just a way of working them in a recipe – and a delicious one.
I shared with you before that baking is not my strongest point; I have a lot of ideas of what I would like to bake, but thus far it has not come to fruition. I will continue working on it, I promise. This Cherry Pie is a simple pie that everybody can make and it does not require a lot of calculation to adjust it for two. You just have to be willing to pit the cherries.
You can buy a cherry pitter, but I can tell you that a little kitchen knife will do just fine. You don’t necessarily need a lot of tools to complete your recipes. Tools will just fill up your kitchen drawers and counter space. For this recipe, we’re talking about 2 1/4 cup of cherries, so it’s not the end of the world to do by hand and cherries will barely stain your fingers, so no need to worry about that.
How to make the Cherry Pie for Two
- Select your cherries. You can make any combination of cherry variety you like. If you decide to go for 100% sour cherries, you may need a little more sugar than this recipe asks for.
- Cut the cherries in half and the halves in half again. The smaller pieces will be easier when filling up a small cherry pie crust. Cherry halves may leave empty spaces/wholes in your pie and you may end up with having difficulties getting the cherries in your pie crust.
- Make the cherry mix – it requires just a few ingredients. Sugar for some sweetness, corn starch for thickening and binding, lemon juice for tartness, and vanilla and almond extract for flavor. This mixture will not give you a soupy end result, but a .
- Pie crust.
- You can make your own pie crust, but you can also do with a store-bought version (like I did). For a quick pie, I prefer to opt for the fresh fruit and a store-bought crust than a homemade crust and fruit from a can. By all means if you have time on your hands you can go for homemade crust and fresh fruit.
- Store-bought pie crust usually come in a package with 2 crusts. For this Cherry Pie for Two you only need 1 crust. I used a 6-7 inch pie dish and you’ll have enough for the bottom and the lattice.
- Lightly brush dough with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar. The egg wash give the lovely golden color and the coarse sugar or turbinado sugar will give this delicious crunch.
- Baking: place the pie in a pre-heated oven of 400 degrees F and bake for 20 minutes. Then turn down the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes. There is the chance that your crust, especially the edges, will turn too brown during these 30 minutes. Protect them by placing a crust shield over them, or just loosely place aluminum foil over the pie (don’t necessarily need the additional tool).
When your cake is baked and ready, allow the pie to cool for a couple of hours at room temperature. The filling will thicken and it will be easier to cut the pie.
If you prefer to make a casual pie, be more of an artist, try a Black and Blueberry Galette or the Mandarin Lemon Curd Pie.
And if you try this recipe for Homemade Cherry Pie for Two, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #agourmetfoodblog on Instagram! I would love to seeing your creations.
Homemade Cherry Pie for Two
Ingredients
- 1 store-bought pie crust
Pie Filling
- 2 1/4 cup cherries
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
Egg Wash
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
- tubinado sugar
Instructions
- If you keep your pie crust in the freezer, you’ll need to take it out of the freezer the night before you want to bake this Cherry Pie for Two.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Make the filling: Pit the cherries. Use a tool, a pitter, or just a small kitchen knife (like I did). Cherries don’t really color your fingers, so not to worry about that. Cut the cherry in half, take the pit out and then cut the half in half.
- Transfer the cherry to a bowl and add, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla and almond extract. Place bowl in the fridge.
- Most store-bought pie crust packages contain 2 crusts; we only need one for the bottom and the crust.
- Take one crust out of the package and place it on your kitchen counter. You may want to roll a just a little bit thinner.
- Cut a circle of your dough a little larger than your pie dish. My pie dish has a diameter of almost 7-inches. Place the dough into the pie dish and tuck it against the sides and make sure the bottom is smooth.
- Spoon the filling onto the dough. Use a slotted spoon, you don’t want all the juice into your pie.
- Make the lattice. From the left-over dough you can make your lattice and this is the point where your creativity can go wild. Use a pastry wheel, a pizza cutter, a knife, whatever it takes and cover your pie with your design or just with a traditional lattice (like I did). Wherever the lattice touches the pie crust bottom, pinch it together. Cut of excess of dough.
- Make your egg wash by whisking together the milk and the egg and brush your pie dough with it.
- Last step is to sprinkle the pie with turbinado sugar.
- Place the pie in the oven on top of a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for an additional 30 minutes (covered with aluminum foil).
- Cool the pie for a couple of hours before you start cutting it. Whatever you don’t eat in one serving, cover up and store in the fridge.
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