ISO Cherry Pie Info

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I'm going to enter a cherry pie in a pie contest at a local, cherity pig roast (yep, I'll be pulling pig again). Now I've won contests with apple pie, apple-caramel, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake. I've given a cherry-cinamon pie away as a trophy, and the winner proclaimed it was the best ever.

So here's what I have planned. I have already turned 2 lbs. of black sweet cherries into a sweet/tart a great freezer jam. I plan on purchasing another batch of sweet black cherries to use whole in the pie. Now I'm thinking I should bring the cherries to a simmer in a simple syrup, both to sweeten them, and to dry them out a little, as the juice from raw cherries would make the filling too runny. Also, I think a bit of cinnamon added to the flour before turning it into my crust would add great flavor without overpowering the cherries.

I could use some tips and ideas to make this pie. I want it to be the best cherry pie anyone has ever ate. Any tips would be considered and appreciated. Thanks.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[erehweslefox]

Well I haven't made a cherry pie like you are discussing, and it sounds like you are making championship pies on some types that I am trying to get traction on.

As someone that is new to pies, maybe some of my mistakes might give insight? Hope so, gonna get them shared.

So pie with grapes, yeah grapes were on sale, well compared to much of which I had done pies before, grapes are mainly water. I actually think they ARE water. Never make grape pie. Cherries, depending on where you get them, might have more water content than what what you expect, you getting sour cherries or store bought? I doubt you haven't thought that over, but I still think they behave different than apples or peaches, either because they are smaller, or they are full of water, depending on what cherries you like. You might want to weight them and do baker's math. do you have a 100 ml standing beaker, and mineral spirits? you could totally confirm the percent of water in your cherries... um that might be kind of nerdy...

I like the idea of incorporating cinnamon into the dough, it eats water, if you are using more than a tsp, you have to adjust water accordingly, and I'd also add some cumin just because. like 3/4 tbsp cin, and 1/4 cumin. Or cloves, they are strong, I would not put more than 1/8 tsp cloves unless you really like cloves. Also don't be afraid to use a 1/4 tsp of cayenne in a sweet recipe. Heat gets subsumed in the sweet flavors, which are good in fruits, if you have sour flavors predomiate you might get them more, but it still seems pleasant. I make cakes all the time with a tsp of cayanne, and it doesn't get picked up other than it peaks out the other flavors.

Oh, acid, two lemons.

I think the dough depends a lot on the filling, I don't see fresh cherries around, much. I'm comparing them in my experience, both to making dough for grapes (too wet, fail), and blackberries/blueberries/raspberries, etc... I think it might be more like apple pies? well, it is an interesting project. I wish you well, and please do tell me if a recipe, particularly an award winning one, comes out of it.

 

[CWS4322]

Chief, I learned to make pie crust when I wasn't even tall enough to reach the pull-out bread board to roll them out. Today I made two pies. Who cares about the filling, I'll get to that later. For the crusts I did the following: 1/2 lard, 1/2 shortening (butter, Crisco, whatever, I used Crisco). Cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg, a pinch of cloves. For the liquid I used apple cider vinegar, ice water, and 2 tsp of ice cold vodka. Flour with 1-2 tsp of corn starch. Method was the usual. The crust was fantastic. For the apple filling,I added a bit of brandy and orange bitters. I would suggest to the cherries add a bit of brandy or artificial rum flavoring. I spray the bottom of the pie pan with a bit of canola oil spray. Good luck.