This Rainier Cherry Pie is the perfect way to use your summer bounty of those pretty yellow cherries. It’s perfect for the 4th of July or any other summer party!
Happy almost 4th of July! Sadly, this year I didn’t get around to making anything red, white and blue (which is sad since I bought ADORABLE cupcake liners). But I do have something else to share with you today. Is anything more American than cherry pie? Ok, maybe apple pie… but… it’s a pretty close call.
Since I had soooo many cherries on hand, I decided to try baking a pie. It was the first pie I’ve EVER baked! I was a little intimidated, but it turned out it was pretty simple. I decided to use Rainier cherries for the pie– the red cherry’s yellow-pinkish cousin!
I didn’t snap a picture since we weren’t at home and I wanted the pie in my mouth as fast as possible, but we served ours with huge scoops of vanilla ice cream.
I was pretty impressed for my first time ever making a pie! The crust was especially delicious. What I took away from this is that pies aren’t HARD to make, they just take a lot of time. With all the fruit around these parts, I’m sure I’ll be trying another soon!
- for the crust:
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 tbsp heavy cream (for brushing
- Raw sugar, for sprinkling
- for the filling:
- 5 cups fresh Rainier cherries, stemmed and pitted
- ⅓ cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Process for 30 seconds.
- Add the butter and pulse for 30 seconds to produce coarse crumbs.
- With the motor running, add the water and process just until the dough starts to come together.
- Pour the dough out onto a floured counter and press into 2 disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour before rolling out.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of crust into a circle.
- Gently place the pastry into a 9½-inch pie dish. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cherries, ⅓ cup sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix well and set aside to juice for 10 minutes.
- Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir this into the cherries.
- Pour cherries into the pie crust.
- Roll out the second disk and cut into strips.
- Crisscross the strips over the top of the pie in a lattice design and crimp down the edges.
- Brush the lattices with heavy cream and sprinkle with raw sugar.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees, turn the pie 180 degrees, and bake for another 35 to 40 minutes.
- Let the pie sit for at least 2 hours before serving.
Have a great (and safe) holiday weekend and be sure to check out my other 4th of July recipes!
Hi Jess, today I’m collecting recipes using cherries and/or almonds. Please drop me a line on [email protected] if you are ok with me linking to your post on Carole’s Chatter. Cheers
Got a gift of 2 cases of Rainier cherries and came across your recipe. It was my first attempt at a pie. (I also made some jam, but it took 2 tries to get it right.) The pie came out perfect. I did need a youtube video to help me do the lattice work. I also got a lot of compliments on the crust! Thank you very much for sharing your recipe!!
Okay so did 1/2 Ranier and 1/2 black cherries. I added two pods of cardamom and a few scrapes of nutmeg. The flavor was so outstanding that everyone in my family was blown away
Hope that 180 degree is around the vertical axis and not the horizontal. Else it’ll be a Rainier Cherry Upside-down pie. Hehehe. But seriously, the Rainiers are ripe in the backyard and looking forward to giving this a go.