Cherry Pie

M's favourite dessert is cherry pie so I decided that K and I would make one for his birthday.  We had fresh cherries from the Farmer's Market and I was determined to conquer my fear of pie crust.  Now that I've mad it I really wonder what it was I was afraid of.  It was the most delicious and flaky pie crust I've ever eaten.  How's that for modest?  I'm not really a pie lover though so there really haven't been that many pie crusts in my life.

Not quite sure where to begin I turned to the ever reliable Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.  If you haven't guessed by now it is one of my absolute favourite cookbooks.  I still remember getting it.  My paternal grandmother, from whom I got my love of cooking, baking and cookbook obsession, gave it to me.  To this day I remember her telling me that I asked for this particular cookbook so she bought it for me.  I couldn't have though; I'd never heard of Mark Bittman (Sorry about that Mr. Bittman.). 


Back to the pie crust.  The essence of Mark Bittman's pie crust is to make it in the food processor and be sure to use butter.  Easy enough.  I made a double batch of the dough but could have gotten away with only a single batch.  I have enough dough to make another pie shell.  It's sitting happily in the freezer waiting for me to come up with something.  Maybe a quiche.  Or blueberry pie.  I'm not really sure.


I was really hoping for just a little bit of extra dough so that I could make pets de soeurs.  The literal translation is Nun's Farts.  Nice, eh?  When I was growing up these were a Christmas time treat.  My mom would make them with the leftover pie crust after making the season's tourtières.  Pie crust rolled thinly, smeared with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.  Rolled up and then cut into thinish rounds and baked.  So delicious.  Unfortunately for M, K, P and me, I just couldn't bring myself to make pets de soeurs with that much leftover pie crust.  However delectable they may be, they are not the healthiest of treats.

I probably should have been fancier with the top of the pie crust but really I was just happy to have assembled everything!

K and I used fresh cherries for the filling.  Again, Mr. Bittman's book helped me through.  K thought my pitting the cherries was absolutely hilarious.  I changed out of my white t-shirt into one of M's dark t-shirts.  What a site!  By the time I had pitted enough cherries the cookbook, counter and I were covered in cherry juice.  There must be a way to be more delicate about it.  I even used a cherry pitter.  Oh well.  Next time.

The only change I would make, should I attempt this pie again, is to use more sugar for the filling.  I'm not sure if the cherries were sub par or I have a very sweet tooth.  When I asked M what he thought of the pie he said that it was good.  Very good.  But he's not sure when he last had a cherry pie where the filling didn't come from a can.