I have always been rather afraid of pies. Thinking, incorrectly, that they were super hard to make or at least to get right. But I'm discovering that in actual fact a pie is constructed in a very similar way to a stew. Which in my head equates to creating or providing a receptacle for a whole bunch of ingredients that taste wonderful when put together, adding a lid or a top and baking the whole lot in the oven for a certain period of time.
With this in mind I set about making my own version of the classic Cherry Pie. Using fresh cherries and adding crunch and texture by a sprinkling of baked almonds on the top.
Take enough shortcrust pastry(shop bought or home made) to line the bottom and sides of your pie dish while leaving enough to form a lattice pattern on top. I rushed the lattice on mine as I was peckish at the time and really should have made some more pastry. De-stone enoughfresh cherries( a large punnet or a generous sized paper bag full) to cover the bottom of the pie dish, one layer of cherries deep. Add two thirds of a tin of tapioca to a separate bowl along with one tablespoon of caster/baking sugar, three drops of a very good quality almond essence and two drops of a good quality vanilla essence and mix well. Pour the mixture over the cherries and add some semblance of a lattice top (ahem!!). Brush the top with egg and sprinkle a large handful of flaked almondson to the top of the pie.
Bake in the middle of your oven at 180c for the first thirty mins and 200c for the last thirty mins. Keep a good eye on the pie as you don't want it to burn in the last twenty minutes but at the same time you'll want it to be browned to perfection when you cut through the top of it. You should also keep an eye on the pie overspilling when it heats up and covering your over floor with cherry mixture. It's a pain to have to remove!
Serve with ice creamor cream of a variety that suits your fancyor custard of course. But I prefer to leave custard until the days are shorter.
Pie. It's good for the soul and doesn't last long!!!!!!!!!!
I should remind you that it's the last day(s) of this months In The Bag blog event. Please get your entries in to me by the end of the weekend at the very latest.
