Cherry Pie Day – Hooray!

by Ilona Erwin | Celebrating, Recipes, Sharing Meals

An Excuse For 3 Fruit-filled Recipes

The Delightful Cherry Pie Is Celebrated

Why do I love February? Is it the cheery Valentines or the fact that winter is almost over? It certainly isn’t the slushy snow and cold rain that often mark this month in the north of the USA. But one thing that you can always count on is the proliferation of plenty of cherry pies in this month. And there is something wonderfully delightful about this red fruit pie that is sweet to the taste, the nose and the eye! No wonder a day is set aside to celebrate the delicious cherry pie.

Always observed on on February 20th, you can have a special celebration of this tasty pie at your house. But why is cherry pie day celebrated in February?

Step By Step Instructions To Bake Your Own

Cherry Pie Recipes to Try

Delectable Lattice Pie Filled with Tart Cherry Filling

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Show off your cherry pies

A cherry red pie plate is up to the task!
Any pie would look lovely served in this pie plate, but can you picture a lattice topped, tart cherry pie filling peeking through deliciously? Display it directly on the table, or let it stand out when serving desserts.

Cherry Red Pie Dish

Emile Henry 9-Inch Pie Dish, Cerise Red

This lovely fluted edge pie plate to accentuate the beauty of your cherry pie is in the appropriate color of cerise (cherry) red.

Oregon Fruits Cherry Pie Video

Cherry Pie Recipe – The one from the Oregon Fruits video shown on this lens

A video with plenty of pie making tips and taking you through the steps of how to make a lattice crust and fill it with a delicious cherry pie filling.

So gather all your ingredients and utensils and get ready to bake your own homemade pie!

Traditional Cherry Pie

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Servings: 8 people

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• ½ - 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cans Oregon Red Tart Cherries
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 3 crusts for a 9-inch pie

Pastry

• 2 cups flour all-purpose
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 4- 6 tablespoons ice water

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Drain the cherries and reserve the juice from only one can.
2. In a saucepan, stir the cherry juice into the combined mixture of the cornstarch and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Gently stir in cherries and almond extract.
3. Pour filling into pastry lined pie pan. Dot with butter or margarine.
4. Adjust crust, seal and vent. Bake for about 40 minutes. If necessary, cover edges with aluminum foil during last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning.
5. Cool pie several hours to allow filling to thicken before slicing.

Recipe for the Pie Crust

1. Mix flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until it resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Mix in the ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until dough forms a ball. Do not overmix. Divide dough into two balls.
4. Using a well-floured surface and rolling pin, roll each pastry ball from the center to the edges with long, even strokes.
5. Roll each pastry into a circle large enough to fit in a 9-inch pie plate.

Recipe on Queen of Tarts, http://blog.oregonfruit.com/how-to-videos/cherry-pie-how-to-video/

Your Baking Style

KitchenAid Double Oven For All Your Baking

Bake to your hearts delight in a dream kitchen oven. I have used both great ovens and had the unfortunate experience of poor ones. a well equipped kitchen helps make baking for special events a joy and success. I’m not just saying that.

I always wanted double ovens because at Thanksgiving and Christmas there is never enough space for the entrees and pies.

KitchenAid Architect Series II KEBS277SSS.27″ Double Electric Wall Oven with Even-Heat True Convection System in Upper Oven & Temperature Probe: Stainless Steel

You need an oven to bake your pies, and this one is one of the best moderately priced for the home cook.

Great cooks use reliable appliances. If you are remodeling your kitchen or looking for an additional or replacement oven, consider the great quality of a KitchenAid.

Which is best for cherry pies? Sweet or tart?

I’m sure there are those who have their preference for sweet cherries, but the tang of a tart cherry just seems made for addition to the tender crust and sweetened juices of a fruit pie. There seems to be good reason why sour cherries are also called “pie cherries”.

And while almond flavoring and vanilla extract are often called for to additionally flavor the pie filling, I like a pinch of mace. Try it! Mace is the outer part of the nutmeg and has a somewhat more subtle , but delicious flavor that it adds. Mace particularly complements cherry flavors.

Cherry Slab Pie – Delicious Recipe For A Crowd

This recipe is from Smitten Kitchen who got it from Martha Stewart. I don’t know who Martha Stewart got it from. The variation of making a slab pie is ideal for serving a large group- like at a potluck, etc.

Slab Cherry Pie

From Smitten Kitchen

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 55 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Filling

• 6 cups sour cherries pitted (fresh or frozen - if frozen defrost and drain first)
• 3/4 to 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Juice of half a lemon
• 2 Pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream OR
• 1 egg - beaten with a tablespoon of water

Glaze

• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk OR
• 1 tablespoon water

Pie Dough

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, very cold (8 ounces, 16 tablespoons or 1 cup)

Method

 

Directions For Pie

1. Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, combine cherries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt. Stir to combine; set aside.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger piece of dough into an 18-by-12-inch rectangle. Work quickly, keeping the dough as cold as possible (and tossing it in the freezer for a couple minutes if it softens too quickly; it is summer after all) and using enough flour that it doesn't stick to the counter.
3. Transfer to a 15-by-10-by-1-inch rimmed baking sheet, (pastry will hang over sides of pan). Line with parchment, if you wish (recommended). Pour cherry mixture into lined baking sheet; set aside.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out remaining piece of dough into a 16-by-11-inch rectangle. Drape over filling. Bring bottom pastry up and over top pastry. Pinch edges to seal. Using a fork, prick top crust all over. Brush with heavy cream or egg wash.
5. Bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 40 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until just warm to the touch, about 45 minutes.
6. In a medium bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk, water or lemon juice (your choice) until desired glaze consistency is achieved. Use a spoon to drizzle over top. Serve warm or room temperature.

For Pastry

1. Fill a one cup liquid measuring cup with water, and drop in a few ice cubes; set it aside.; whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. Dice two sticks (8 ounces or 1 cup) of very cold unsalted butter into 1/2-inch pieces.
2. Mix: Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour and work them in with the pastry blender, blended evenly until the size of petit peas.
3. Drizzle 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water (but not the cubes, if there are any left!) over the butter and flour mixture. Using a rubber or silicon spatula, gather the dough together. You'll probably need an additional 1/4 cup of cold water to bring it together, but add it a tablespoon as a time. Once you have large clumps with the spatula, mix with your hands . Gather the clumps together, kneading them gently.
4. Divide the dough in half, and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Shape it into a disk. Let the dough chill in the fridge for one hour, but preferably at least two, before rolling it out.
5. Dough will keep in the fridge for about a week, and in the freezer longer. If not using it that day, wrap it in additional layers of plastic wrap to protect it from fridge/freezer smells. To defrost your dough, move it to the fridge for one day before using it.

Notes

Try this at your next buffet or potluck.

The original recipe is here, http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/07/sour-cherry-slab-pie/.

Sweet Little Tarts

Pie Making Tips

From the American Pie Council

 Pie Making Tips 

• Read the entire recipe before starting your pie. Make sure you have all of the ingredients and utensils and take time to understand all the directions. Skipping this step is the major cause of mistakes.
• Cold ingredients are the one most important matter when making a great pie crust Have cold bowls and utensils for an extra measure of success. Be sure to chill the dough for at least an hour before rolling it out. Keep the shortening cold for a deliciously flaky crust.
• Don’t overwork the dough. Your shortening or butter should be coated with flour mixture, not blended with it. Over handling and mixing causes gluten to form, and this is what toughens the dough. Cool your hands before handling, if possible (run under cold water and then dry thoroughly).
• Transfer crust dough into the pie pan with care. Fit the dough into the dish while avoiding stretching. Trim the dough to 1″ inch over hang and tuck it under itself to create a thick rim.
• With the index finger on one hand, press the dough against the thumb and forefinger of the opposite hand; continue around the perimeter of the crust and dish, this is called fluting.
• Bake the pie in the lower third of the oven, which helps bottom crust to finish baking. another tips is to cover the edges with foil or a crust protector so the edges won’t over brown.
• Use only fresh ingredients. Make seasonally available fruit pies for best flavor. Cherries are in season during the month of June.

Pie Birds!

Spode Christmas Tree Pie Bird
Use this on your double crust pies to prevent the juices from bubbling out . It helps you attain that crisp, tender crust that sets your pies apart from the rest.
American Pie Council has lots of recipes to try.

Cherries Are Red

Beautiful Lattice Cherry Pie

Which make them the perfect fruit filling for a pie that celebrates Valentine’s Day. AND February is National Cherry Month.

What is Cherry Pie Day?

And Why?

When I was a kid Presidents Day was a big deal in school, and along with that was the day to learn about the first U.S. President, George Washington. What does this have to do with cherries? You must have heard the tale of George’s famous ( albeit legendary and maybe imagined ) confession, “I cannot tell a lie, I cut down the cherry tree”. And cherries were linked to George Washington Day in February (his actual birthday is February 11th by the Julian calendar), now called “President’s Day” and used to celebrate Abraham Lincoln and George Washington; and, well, all the presidents, really. Whew, how complicated! That is an example of what happens when the government gets involved with things, isn’t it?

Who Thought Up This Holiday?

Well, this is not about the debate over President’s Day or the telling of myths and legends, but of something that we can all agree upon… a great cherry pie is worth celebrating. The wonderful thing about this fruit filling is that it is a great way to make a delicious pie any time of the year- even in the tail end of winter, during February. If using tart pie cherries, there really isn’t much quality difference between canned and fresh, unlike many of the other fruits, like peach or apple. Cherry pies are fine tasting using cherries you have canned from the cherry season of June last year. Now there is a taste difference in pie fillings, so if you use canned cherries and not the syrupy canned pie filling, it will produce a much better pie.

Where did National Cherry Pie Day originate? No one seems to know. It must have originated somewhere. My guess is that an organization like the Pie Council that claims authorship of National Pie Day, or the National Cherry Growers Association or some similar marketing group, declared it and set the date to fall around the time President’s Day is celebrated. Organizations quite often lobby for their representative food to have a national day. Besides National Cherry Pie Day, there are days for Cherry Cobbler and Cherry popovers. And there is one for moldy cheese, too, but that is somewhat beside the point.

The point is that you have an excuse to bake a perfectly delectable cherry pie and eat it in celebration of the day!

Don’t just bake a pie… play some games, learn about cherries, make it a fun and different day of celebration.

A Game To Play On Cherry Pie Day

CHERRY PIE GAME

~by Kylan from Kansas -5th Grade Teacher

We play a game called Cherry Pie. You stand in a circle and give the first student a word. He or she gives the first letter of the word. You continue going around the circle each person giving one letter. If someone misses they sit down and are out for the game. If the word is spelled correctly the person after the one who said the last letter correctly says, “cherry pie” and they are out for the game. This continues until there is only one person standing. I keep the game moving quickly, and I do no repeats, if they stutter or don’t know where we are they are out. This keeps them listening to every word.