You Want Pies With That? Sour Cherry Crostata

I didn’t think I’d be able to get something in this month, but due to our hostess’s, Susan of She’s Becoming Dougmesstic, unfortunate stomach bug, we got an extension to post our pies.  This month, we had to bake a “Resolution Breaking Pie.”

Now, under normal circumstances, for me that might be a fudge and nut filled ice cream pie.  But these are not normal circumstances.  I’m so burned out on chocolate, cream, and chocolate cream yule logs, that nothing tempted me.  I had to think long and hard, but I came up with one thing:  a sour cherry pie.

In heaven, I will have sour cherry pie on a regular basis, I assure you.  I love fruit pies, and this has to be one of my favorites.  I bought the cherries at our farmers’ market last summer, pitted them (hours, people, hours of work), then froze them.  To make the pie (or crostata), I thawed eight cups of frozen cherries overnight, then I mixed the drained fruit with 1/4 cup of tapioca FLOUR (not the pearls),  1 Tbsp. of all purpose flour, about 1 cup of sugar, and 1/2 tsp. of almond extract.  I tucked the mixture into my adaptation of  Dorie Greenspan’s Good for Anything Pie Crust, substituting cream cheese for the shortening.  I brushed the crust with an egg wash, sprinkled on some sugar, and baked the whole thing for about one hour at 400 F, until the top was golden brown and the juices were bubbling.  The whole thing fit into a deep dish, 10-inch pie plate.  If the crust starts to get a bit too dark, before the juices bubble, just cover the whole pie with a sheet of foil.

What can I say?  Yum.  Resolutions broken, you dastardly pie bakers.  Be sure to check the You Want Pies With That? website in a couple days to see what great pies other pie aficionados came up with.