Eberle’s Homegrown Cherry Pie

Happy Thursday, folks!  Hope you have a good appetite this morning.

Eberle says that her recipe for a cherry pie begins as follows: “Plant a cherry tree.”  We are so lucky to have two pie cherry trees in our garden, & they are very hardy & consistent producers, too.  Springs in Indian Valley, Idaho can be unpredictable.  On the whole, they tend to come pretty early, but we can be cursed with a late freeze that will wipe out peaches & pears & even plums.  But the cherry trees always seem to hang in there & produce a bounteous crop in July & August.

Once you’ve planted your cherry tree & it’s grown & producing cherries (or you find another supply of same), Eberle suggests the following:

For the pie filling:

2-½ cups of pie cherries
2 Tbsp of tapioca
1-¼ cups of sugar

Warm the pie filling ingredients until the tapioca is dissolved.

For the pie crust:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
6 Tbsp (¾ stick) unsalted butter, cut in pieces & cold
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp of ice water

After you have formed your dough, refrigerate it for 1 hour.

Then bake the crust at 425 degrees for 8 minutes before adding the pie filling.  After 8 minutes, turn the oven down to 375, add the filling & bake until the crust is golden brown.

I think you can handle it from there! 

Have a wonderful day.