"Tarty" Tart Cherry Lattice Pie

Category: desserts | Difficulty: easy

Mmmmm........

I'm not much of a cherry lover - I love berries best, but I can go for a cherry pie man! Well, I was in the mood for one and I looked through my blog and my recipes and I was shocked that I couldn't find a recipe for one so I scrambled around the web looking for a good one to try out. Of course, I was looking for an easy method so I could share it and I borrowed this one which I love because some other variations were a little too complicated for someone like me who doesn't bake from scratch a whole lot. I like shortcuts so much and of course I'll include a shortcut cherry pie recipe at the end of this post.

My mom used to love to bake pies. They were her favorites and she'd make peach, apple, cherry, you name it! I love it when she'd get in the baking mood which was usually the holidays but she could belt out pie after pie in a matter of a couple days! Even the crust was good and you know a pie is good when you want the crust as well!

Here's what you need for this beauty:

Ingredients:
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
4 c. fresh or frozen unsweetened pitted tart cherries, thawed and drained
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1-1/3 c. sugar
Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
2 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces

Preparation:
In a large bowl, combine sugar and flour. Then stir in cherries and extract. Line a 9-inch pie plate with bottom pastry and trim to 1 inch beyond edge of plate. Pour filling into crust. Dot with butter.

Roll out remaining pastry; make a lattice crust. Seal and flute edges. Cover edges loosely with foil.

Then bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees. Remove foil; bake 20-25 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

I like to eat my slice with some frozen vanilla yogurt on top! Yield: 6-8 servings. Now, if you're looking for a real shortcut, do what I used to do below!

Shortcut Lattice Cherry Pie

Ingredients:
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can tart cherries
1/4 c. sugar, brown, or white
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. quick tapioca
1/3 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. butter or more
1 tsp. cinnamon
Unbaked lattice top crust or you can get a pie shell

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter. Cover with lattice crust. Sprinkle extra sugar over and bake at 400 degrees until brown and bubbly. Use a 10-inch pie pan.