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Ingredients
- For the crust:
- 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 13 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons lard, chilled
- 3 to 6 tablespoons ice water
- For the filling:
- 1 cup sugar (or more if you like a sweeter pie)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons instant tapioca (more if you like it very set, less if you don't mind a little thickened juice)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 pounds sour cherries (about 6 cups), rinsed and pitted
- 1 tablespoon kirsch or brandy
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- Demerara sugar, for sprinkling
Details
Servings 8
Adapted from melissaclark.net
Preparation
Step 1
1. First make the dough, in the bowl of a food processor pulse together flour and salt just to combine. Add butter and lard and pulse until chickpea-sized pieces form. Add the water one tablespoon at a time and pulse until mixture just comes together. Pat the dough into 2 discs, one using two-thirds of the dough, the other using one-third of the dough (weigh it if you have a kitchen scale, one disc should be 12 ounces, the other 6 ounces). Wrap the discs in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days), before rolling out and baking.
2. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Place the large disc on a lightly floured surface and roll it into a 12-inch circle, about 3/8-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate. Line the dough with foil and weigh it down with pie weights. Bake until the crust is light golden brown, about 30 minutes.
3. While the piecrust is baking, prepare the filling. Using a coffee or spice grinder, grind the tapioca to a fine powder. In a small bowl, combine the tapioca with the sugar and cinnamon. Place the cherries in a bowl and add the sugar and tapioca mixture. Drizzle in kirsch or brandy and toss gently to combine.
4. When the pie crust is ready, transfer it to a wire rack to cool slightly and reduce the temperature to 375° F. Remove the foil and pie weights and scrape the cherry filling into the pie crust.
5. Place the smaller disc of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it 3/8-inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter (or several round cookie cutters of different sizes) to cut out circles of dough. Arrange the dough circles on top of the cherry filling.
6. Brush the dough circles with cream and sprinkle the top of the pie generously with demerara sugar. Bake until the crust is dark golden brown and the filling begins to bubble, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool for at least 2 hours, allowing the filling to set up before serving.
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