Cherry Pie

This pie may be one of the best ways to wear your heart on your sleeve, or in this case, on top of the PIE!

This is a great opportunity to use your heart-shaped cookie cutters, too. I cut out about twenty 2.5 inch hearts and the same amount of 1.5 inch hearts, and placed the big hearts in concentric rings and the smaller ones near the edge. Or you might place different size hearts in a carefree manner with some here and there. Be creative!

Ingredients:
For one 9” deep-dish pie plate
1 recipe for double crust pie dough
6 cups sour cherries, fresh and pitted, canned and drained, or frozen (you won’t need to defrost them)**
1 cup sugar + a few teaspoons more for sprinkling the top
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
A very small grating of whole nutmeg
2 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons orange liqueur or zest and juice of half an orange (optional)
1 tablespoon Salted Butter for dotting the top of the filling
Egg White Wash
1 egg white mixed with 1 tablespoon water for an egg white wash

** Fresh sour cherries (also known as pie cherries) are a treat, but their season is short—just a few weeks in the summertime. But, when fresh cherries are not available, frozen or canned fruit will do just fine. A few tablespoons of an orange liqueur, or orange zest and juice added to the filling make this pie extra special.

Method:
1. Make dough, divide into two disks, wrap in plastic and chill.
2. Put cherries, sugar, lemon juice, nutmeg, quick cooking tapioca, salt into a bowl and gently mix together until well coated.
3. Roll out the bottom dough and place in your pie pan.
4. Pour filling into crust. (Note: Cherries are a very juicy fruit so fill your pie pan to within 1/2 inch of the rim so they won’t boil over when baking.)
5. Dot with Irish Butter and set aside.
6. Roll out remaining dough, cut out heart shapes and arrange on top of the filling in a pattern that is pleasing to you.
7. Trim excess dough from edges and crimp.
8. Brush crust with some egg white wash and sprinkle evenly and lightly with 1-2 teaspoons of sugar.
9. Place pie in refrigerator to chill while oven is preheating to 425° F.
10. Bake at 425° F on the middle rack of the oven until crust is just golden, about 20 minutes.
11. Reduce heat to 375° F; bake until golden brown and there is some steady bubbling in the filling, about 30-35 minutes more.
12. Let cool before serving.

Source: Kerrygold USA, Kate McDermott