Pie is totally my thing. Sweet, savoury, chocolate, fruit-filled, vegetarian or full of chunky meaty goodness. If there's pastry and a filling, I'm there.
This cherry and apple pie was dessert for a lunch we had at my house on the weekend, the theme of which was southern food! I wasn't sure what to make for dessert, but when I saw a jar of morello cherries in the pantry, I knew that cherry pie was the answer. You may remember I made Nigella's cherry pie nearly four (!!!) years ago as part of my How to Eat project. It was so wonderful; I can't believe it's been 4 years since I last made it!
I made the pastry and pie on the day of the lunch, and put it in the oven as we were sitting down to eat. Despite using Nigella's fabulous freeze-the-fat-and-flour technique, this very rich shortcrust pastry (2 egg yolks) is exceedingly delicate and very difficult to roll out. It took me 2 attempt to get the rough and ramshackle version you see above.
I also seem to have misplaced my 20-cm shallow pie tin, so I used a larger one, and had to roll the pastry out very thinly to get it to fit! The recipe calls for a paste of cherry juice/melted butter/flour and sugar, but before adding this paste or the fruit, I sprinkled in a few spoonfuls of almond meal in the base. I didn't want the super-thin pastry to get soggy.
The jar of cherries stated in the recipe didn't nearly fill the tin, so we added an apple, chopped up and sautéed. (Thank-you Sandra!)
Here I am attempting to patch the lid on neatly.
And after about 40 minutes baking...
I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I managed to slide the pie onto a serving platter intact! The pastry was very short and crumbly - definitely worth the painstaking rolling and re-rolling! I would have liked there to be more filling and a slightly thicker pastry. (A substantial pie is a good pie). Next time I will definitely increase quantities if I still can't find my 20-cm pie tin.
The recipe made 12 modest portions, which worked out well because we had 12 guests. However, one of my friends inexplicably doesn't like cherries and didn't have any pie. What the? Oh well, this just left everyone else fighting over the remaining slice, hehe.
A la modeeeee!
8 comments
The pastry definitely looks lovely and crumbly and rich. Yet even hearing that the trouble is worth it, I'm still far too scared of pastry to attempt it myself!
ReplyDeleteA friend who doesn't like cherries?! Surely, allergies are the only reason not to eat them!! After all, who can resist a slice of that pie?
ReplyDeleteI agree - everything pie related is good. Pastry makes everything better. That pie looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteWoh! Massively impressed!! That pie looks great.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it's been FOUR years since the HTE project.
Btw, Sandra's a smart cookie. That apple trick is something my mom would've come up with. Germans.
L. xoxo
Looks gorgeous, good on you for persisting with that pastry! This made me realise I don't make pie NEARLY as much as I should. Nigella definitely helps make pie not so scary though.
ReplyDeleteI never tried this one! Making a pie and combining this two yummy fruits!
ReplyDeleteThat pie was the best cherry pie that I've tasted. Loved that amazing crust. Just can't believe I lost the fight for that second piece of pie.
ReplyDeleteHannah - Thank-you! If you're nervous I suggest trying Nigella's plain shortcrust pastry, I've found it the easiest to work with!
ReplyDeleteManggy - I know - I was in disbelief for aaages when he told me about the cherry thing!
imasugarjunkie - Thank-you! I made a chicken and leek pie later in the week which was also yummy.
Lisa - I know, FOUR years. I feel so old and so separated from my beloved project!
Laura - Nigella + Pie = deliciousness. Always.
Dining Table - I highly recommend giving it a go!
Thanh - Lol Thanh, you're too funny! I am glad you enjoyed the pie though. Can't believe people kept wanting to eat! I was stuffed, hahaha. Maybe playing squash will build up my appetite.
xox Sarah