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Sour Cherries Leave a Sweet Taste… Cherry Pie Filling and Hand Pies

This may be one of my shortest blog posts ever!!! Rejoice all of you who secretly wish I would just “get to the point” (or the recipe) when I publish something :)!

This is the story of me making sour cherry pie filling for the very first time in my entire life. Why did I wait so long to try make this? I dunno… I thought it would be long and difficult? I didn’t know how? It’s easy to buy it ready made? I never saw fresh sour cherries at the market before? Or maybe never noticed them before? Who knows… There is always a first for everything and this was mine. Ironic because cherry is my favourite pie ever. It so happens to land close second with the King, his numero uno desserts being apple baked in “everything”. It happens that it also was my father-in-law’s ultimate favourite pie of all times and I am always reminded of him when a cherry pie graces our dinner table. Fond memories indeed!

I was bumming around the farmer’s stall on the Byward Market (no surprise here) for my weekly fill of all the good stuff in season this past Saturday when I saw these shiny crimson red beauties. Next thing I knew, they were in my shopping basket. What to do, what to do??! My friend Google came to the rescue and to my surprise, site after site after site offered pretty much the same ingredients/steps. So I won’t really credit anyone here except that I settled on “AllRecipes.com” for the basic guidelines.

As for the pastry well… Drum roll please, it is confession time: I am useless, completely useless at making pie dough. Sometimes it turns out and other times, it is a HUGE fiasco. I will never, ever share a “how to make pie dough” recipe on this site. Ever! Pie dough is my nemesis, pinky swear! I could tell you stories about pie crust disasters. And I can have a few friends tell you I am not exaggerating either. Like this one time when I had 24 tourtières to make for a catering order at a very busy time of year and I called my buddy Laura SC in tears at 10pm on a Saturday night because all I was ending up with were mountains of crumbs… But that is a story for another day. I said I would get to the point: so I used, instead of making from scratch, ta ta ta tum… wait for it… Frozen puff pastry. Yup, there, I’ve said it out loud! I used frozen puff pastry from the grocery store. Marvellous little invention I say :).

So project sour cherry turnover was done in a jiffy with homemade from scratch sour cherry filling and frozen pastry dough. I think regular pie dough or puff pastry dough can be used interchangeably. Best damn sour cherry filling I ever had!

Cherry Pies

Who can resist these hot, flaky pockets of sweetness?



Sour Cherry Pie Filling and Turnovers

All the recipes I came across in my Google searches offered pretty much the same ingredients in the same proportions. I added cinnamon, just because :).

What you need

  • 4 cups pitted fresh sour cherries (I used a traditional cherry/olive pitting tool)
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 package of frozen puff pastry, thawed
  • Egg wash or heavy cream
  • Optional: toasted almond and powder sugar crumble (instructions follow)

How to make it

  1. Rinse and using a little gadget or the tip of a paring knife, remove the pit from all the cherries
    Cherry Pitting

    Cherry pitting

  2. Add the cherries to a heavy bottom pot.
    Time to feel the heat!

    Cooking Sour Cherries

  3. In a separate bowl, combine together the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt
  4. Add to the cherries and mix well to coat evenly. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant silicone spatula or wooden spoon
    Adding sugar and cornstarch

    Adding sugar and cornstarch

  5. Once the mixture starts to thicken, reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until the cherries have softened, anywhere between 6 to 10 minutes.
    Starting to bubble away

    Starting to bubble away

  6. Remove from heat and let cool completely
  7. Once the filling is completely cooled off, you can make the turnovers
  8. Set oven to 400°F and place rack on the middle position
  9. Cut each pastry sheet in 9 squares. Prepare only one sheet at a time keeping the other sheet refrigerated until needed.
  10. Set a small amount of filling in the middle of each square, slightly wet the edges and fold in a triangle. Using a forks, seal the edges well.
    They are starting to look yummy!

    They are starting to look yummy!

    Puff pastry squares getting a big scoop of cherry pie filling

    Puff pastry squares getting a big scoop of cherry pie filling

  11. Place on baking sheet and brush with egg wash (1 egg yolk well mixed with a tablespoon of water) heavy cream if you have on hand.
  12. The turnovers are ready to bake. It will take 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven. Keep an eye on them after 10 minutes. They are ready when they have developed a deep golden colour. And maybe the filling will ooze out just like mine did, that’s okay: nothing that a fork can’t fix when it is time to eat
  13. You can top with an almond and powdered sugar crumble after the egg wash has been brushed on. To make the crumble, you will need about 1/2 cup toasted almonds and 3 tbsp powdered sugar whizzed through a food processor until it reaches a coarse and crumbly mixture. Pat a generous amount on top of each turnover. The baking time remains the same.

These are best eaten warm and right away! As if you could wait…

This picture barely happened before the turnovers were chowed down!

This picture barely happened before the turnovers were chowed down!

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Baking// Desserts// Recipes6 Comments

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A Change of Seasons… »

Comments

  1. Alex says

    August 8, 2016 at 9:03 pm

    Nathalie this recipe looks amazing. Did you know that we have 2 sour cherry trees at our house and a freezer full of pitted cherries in the freezer. Now I have a recipe to try with them. I think we have about 100 cups in ziplock bags….I better find a less caloric recipe though ….or else the situation might not be good! If you know what I mean!
    Love your blog. Alex 😀

    Reply
    • Nathalie says

      August 8, 2016 at 9:11 pm

      Wow, that is a lot of cherries!!! Yeah, I here you about a healthier dessert. The cherry filling could probably be done with a bit less sugar and used in a graham crust or spoon over yogurt. The filling is so good, it eats as is! Have you tried dehydrating the cherries to use in baked goods and granola? I have heard of others doing that. I am thrilled you enjoy my blog. Thank you so very much!!!

      Reply
    • Edith says

      August 9, 2016 at 5:01 am

      Look online for recipes for cherry wine or liqueur. I make it every couple of years when our cherry tree has an abundant crop. Basic recipe is 4 cups cherries (not pitted). 2 cups sugar (don’t skimp), 4 cups vodka or brandy. Put everything in a large glass jar with at least 2 inches head room and a good fitting lid, eg mason jar. Set in a window and leave it for at least 5 months, ie until Christmas. Enjoy!

      Reply
      • Nathalie says

        August 9, 2016 at 5:32 am

        That sounds divine! Thanks for sharing 😊

        Reply
  2. Danièle xo says

    August 8, 2016 at 9:20 pm

    Wow! Those trips to the market are a sure inspiration for you! Thanks so much for sharing! Savimg this recipe for a special occasion!

    Reply
  3. Nathalie says

    August 10, 2016 at 3:30 pm

    Merci Dan xo

    Reply

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Welcome!

My name is Nathalie. I was born in Montreal, lived in Germany as a child and now reside in Ottawa, Ontario. I started this blog hoping to find an outlet to the many one way conversations I have with myself about food! I am passionate about everything related to cooking. My kitchen is my hobby room but I also love to explore the many merchants of edible goodness out in the world: from my home town to my travels, food is at the center of everything! Meals are planned for sustenance but also for the simple pleasure of breaking bread... If nourishment was limited to taking in a specific amount of nutrient as fuel everyday, we would not have these intricate and amazingly powerful taste buds. I hope to entertain you with tales of a gustatory nature. Welcome to my blog!

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