Tart Cherries are cooked into a delicious filling and tucked inside a flaky, spiced pie crust. This can be made with fresh or frozen tart cherries and is perfect year-round.

Hi! Pi(e) Day, which falls on the 14th March (3.14, get it?), is one of my favourite internet holidays, and I am so excited to share this pie that I have planned for it! I partnered with Montmorency Tart Cherries to bring you this recipe for Tart Cherry Pie with a Spiced Pie Crust, using frozen Montmorency tart cherries.

Montmorency tart cherries, also known as sour cherries, are a bright red, sweet-tart cherry that not only have a whole host of nutritional benefits, but are also incredible for baking, as they are versatile and perfect for offsetting sweetness with their tart flavour and they retain their beautiful bright red colour even after baking. Montmorency tart cherries are grown in the U.S. and are available year-round in a bunch of different forms - dried, canned, juiced, concentrate and the version that we are using here, frozen! The cherries are frozen by IQF, which stands for individually quick frozen, where the fresh fruit is run through a blast freezer, which freezes it incredibly quickly, meaning that the colour and nutritional benefits are preserved (fun fact - I used to work in an IQF factory as my summer job when I was at university in NZ!).

I kept things fairly simple, with a classic tart cherry pie, but elevated it a little by adding spices to my pie crust. This is one of my favourite tricks - you can add whatever you think would complement the fruit. A couple of seconds of extra work gives you a whole different flavour profile within the pie, which I really like for putting a twist on an old favourite. I added five spice powder to the pie crust, which is a blend of star anise, cinnamon, fennel, sichuan peppercorns and cloves. The warmth from the spices complemented the tart cherry filling perfectly.

I often like to pre-cook the filling on the stove before making pies using fruit which has a higher water content, and this technique works particularly well for things such as the frozen Montmorency tart cherries I used in this pie. The cooking process is super simple and means that you start with a filling that isn’t going to leak everywhere and will hold up very nicely when sliced.

I hope you pick up some Montmorency tart cherries in your freezer section and give this one a go!

A few wee tips:

For the filling, frozen Montmorency Tart Cherries work great. I weighed out the quantity needed, then let them thaw at room temperature, stirring occasionally help distribute the juices.
Both the filling and the pie crust can be made ahead as they need time to cool / rest, which makes assembly the day that you are baking very easy.
I use a folding method when I am making my pie dough which makes it much easier to work with, while still retaining the flakiness of the dough. I make the dough, shape it into two rectangles, rest it in the fridge wrapped for about an hour, then remove it and roll it out into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. I then give it a letter fold (as you would a letter), roll out to a rectangle, letter fold again, then roll out slightly, and shape into a disc. I then re-wrap it, and leave it to rest overnight. This makes the dough more homogenous without compromising the flaky texture that you want in the pie dough, and it makes it a total dream to work with. For me, it’s a game changer.
I like to divide the pie dough into 1/3 and 2/3 - shape the smaller one into a disc as it will be your bottom crust, and shape the top into a rectangle so it’s the right shape when it comes to cutting out lattices.
I cut my lattice strips using a fluted cutter, and then finished the pie using cut-outs from leftover pieces of pie dough which I pressed together and rolled out.

Thank you so much to Montmorency Tart Cherries for Sponsoring this post! All opinons are my own.

Tart Cherry Pie with Spiced Pie Crust

Author: Erin
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 1/2 hours
Total Time: 2 1/2 hours plus chilling and cooling time

Description

Tart Cherries are cooked into a delicious filling and tucked inside a flaky, spiced pie crust. This can be made with fresh or frozen tart cherries and is perfect year-round.

Scale

Ingredients

Spiced pie dough

560g (3 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
3 tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp cinnamon
345g (3 sticks, 1 1/2 cups) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Approximately 1 cup ice
240g (1 cup) water
60g (1/4 cup) apple cider vinegar

Tart Cherry Filling

1kg (2.2lbs) Frozen Montmorency Tart Cherries, thawed, juices reserved
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
175g (3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp) sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp plus 1 tsp corn starch
Egg wash - 1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water
Turbinado sugar to finish (optional)

Instructions

SPICED PIE DOUGH

Place flour, sugar, salt, five spice, and cinnamon into a large bowl. Mix to combine. Cut butter into cubes and add to the flour. Toss lightly to coat. Working quickly, using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until there are only pea-sized chunks left. You want a few lumps of butter remaining to keep the pastry nice and tender.
Combine ice, water and cider vinegar in a bowl. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the ice water into the flour and butter mixture, and using a stiff spatula or your hands, mix in well. Continue adding water one tablespoon at a time (I normally need about 3/4 to 1 cup, but add slowly) until you have a dough that holds together well, but is not too wet.
Squeeze together with your fingertips to make a homogenous dough. Divide the dough into two – I like to do a 1/3 to 2/3 split. Shape the smaller portion into a disc and the larger into a rectangle. If desired, roll out and perform letter folds after an hour of resting (see notes). Rest in the fridge for at least two hours, or preferably overnight.

TART CHERRY FILLING

Place the thawed Montmorency Tart Cherries and their juices into a medium saucepan, add the vanilla, and place over medium heat. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, and corn starch. Add the dry ingredients to the saucepan and stir to combine using a rubber spatula.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and the juices turn from cloudy to clear with a darker colour, 3-4 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container and allow to cool completely in the fridge.

ASSEMBLY

On a lightly floured surface, roll the disc of pie dough into a circle slightly larger than your pie dish. You want it to be approximately 1/8 inch (3mm) in thickness. Line a 9" pie dish, leaving the extra dough overhanging. Trim the dough so there is about 1 inch overlapping the edge of your dish.
Transfer the cooled Montmorency Tart Cherry filling to the crust and smooth down. Place in the fridge while you prepare the lattice.
Roll out the second piece of dough (the rectangle) into a rough rectangle approximately 1/8 inch thick. Use a pastry cutter to cut strips for your lattice. Place your strips onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and store in the fridge until ready to use. Press together the scraps and re-roll, these are good for extra lattice strips or for using pie stamps to cut out for the border - freeze for 10 minutes or so before stamping out to help the stamps hold their shape.
Arrange the strips of pie dough on the top of the pie, weaving into your desired lattice. If you are adding stamps, trim any overlapping pie dough and lattice strips so that they are flush with the edge of the pie dish, then glue on the stamps with a little egg wash. If you are crimping, trim the crust with a little overhang and then crimp as desired.
Rest the pie in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. While the pie is resting in the fridge, preheat the oven to 425°f/220°c. Place a baking tray on the bottom rack of the oven.
Brush the pie with egg wash and sprinkle liberally with raw sugar. Bake at 425˚f/220˚c for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is set and beginning to go golden. Reduce the temperature 375°f/190°c and bake until the pastry is deeply golden and the filling is bubbling slightly, 50 to 60 minutes.
Store leftovers wrapped in foil at room temperature and re-warm slightly when serving.

Keywords: tart cherry, sour cherry, pie, spiced pie crust, pie crust, pie dough