Cherry Lattice Pie

Since my mom was visiting, Ben and Brandi were coming to up as well, my mom and I wanted to make a cherry pie since  I decided to try a new recipe and also make a lattice top.

Ingredients:

Filling

• 28 ounces pitted cherries (5 heaping cups) from about 2 pounds or 6 heaping cups whole fruit)
  (I used a can of drained sour cherries in water, and enough frozen sweet cherries to bring the weight to 28 ounces.)
• 1 ounce fresh lemon or lime juice (2 tablespoons)
  (I used lime juice)
• 7 ounces sugar (about a cup)
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (if using table salt, use half 3/8 a teaspoon)
• 1 1/2 ounces tapioca starch or corn starch (about 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon)
  (I used corn starch, since that is what I had on hand)
• As needed - additional cherries.
  (To better fill the pie, at the end I added another 2 cups of frozen sweet cherries on top of the filling.)

Egg wash

• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/8 teaspoon  kosher salt, or a pinch of table salt

Instructions:

1. Combine the cherries, lemon (or lime) juice, sugar, salt, and starch in a large bowl until well combined. 
2. Scoop into a prepared pie shell. Add extra sweet cherries if needed to bring fruit to within 1/2 inch of top of pie
   (Do not overfill or mound up this pie - cherries are juicy, so fill pan at most 1/2 inch from top of pie. And you should cook on a parchment covered baking pan, as directed below.)
   
3. Top with a lattice crust.
   (Follow link for instructions.)




4. Refrigerate pie to ensure top crust is completely chilled, about 30 minutes. 
5. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. 
6. Just before baking, whisk egg, milk, and salt in a small bowl. Brush over chilled top crust in a thin, even layer.
7. Sprinkle with large crystal sugar.




8. Place chilled pie on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.
   (Use a baking sheet to catch any drips.)
9. Recommended - cover edges of pie crust with a pie shield before you put it in the oven.
10. Bake until crust is golden - this will take a long time especially with frozen cheeries.
11. After about 45 minutes,  check for browning and loosely cover the pie with aluminum foil.
12. Drop oven temperature to 350, and continue baking until filling is bubbling even in the very center of the pie, about 30 to 45 minutes more.
    (The time will vary considerably depending on the thickness of pie plate, the use of frozen berries, the amount of top crust, . . .)
13. Allow the pie to cool for 3 hours or so so the sauce will gel.

Carole's Notes:

This pie was delicious. Since my pie pan is deep, I included 2 extra cups of cherries to help fill it.
I also used corn starch instead of the recommended tapioca starch, and the pie firmed up fine.



The recipe is lightly adapted from http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/06/fresh-cherry-pie-filling-recipe.html