Sweet Cherry Pie
Filling and baking temperature adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Dough for double-crust pie – recipe for pie crust here.

Filling Ingredients:
4 cups pitted fresh cherries (about 2 1/2 pounds unpitted)
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar (or more if your cherries are on the tarter side)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Juice of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water
Coarse sugar, for decoration

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In a large bowl, mix together, gently, the cherries, cornstarch, sugar, salt, lemon juice and almond extract.

Roll out half of your pie dough (be sure to pre-chill it first according to instructions) on a flour surface to a 13 inch round. Don’t worry about it not being perfectly symmetrical – these things happen. Gently, fold the “circle” in half, and fold that half in another half (in other words, a quarter) and transport it to the pie pan (should be 9 inches). You can also roll your dough around the rolling pin, but I find the first method easier. Trim the overhang to half-inch width.

Gently spoon filling into pie crust, being careful to keep the liquid that’s formed at the bottom of the bowl from seeping into the spooned filling.

Roll out the second dough disk into a 12 inch round (be sure to keep your work surface floured). Place it over the cherry filling and trim the overhang to 1 inch. Fold the overhang under the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal, and then crimp the edge with a pastry crimper or a fork.

Brush the egg wash over the crust and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Cut slits on top of the crust using a paring knife and bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is golden.

Remove pie from the oven and let rest on a rack until cool.