I love pie. Pie with ice cream. Pie and whipped cream. Steaming hot pie straight out of the oven. Leftover pie from the refrigerator. I LOVE PIE. So naturally, when my hubby came home from work with a grocery bag filled with sour cherries, all I could think of was pie. These beautiful berries were a gift from a co-worker. Taken fresh off the tree, the cherries were prime for baking, literally bursting from the juices. Just pulling the stems off the cherries alone made the berry juice come flooding out which resulted in my kitchen looking like a scene from Kill Bill. Then to make it worse, once I actually started to pit the cherries, I looked like I had been massacred. I had berry juices all over my hands, arms, face, neck – EVERYWHERE! It was a mess. My kitchen was destroyed. So I wrestled out the rest of the cherry pits (there were soooo many cherries) and then spent the rest of my evening cleaning up. Actually, cleaning is an understatement, it was more like sanitizing. I washed the floor, counter, cupboards, sink, window, ceiling – you name it, I cleaned it.  I should have taken pictures, the juices were epic with their ability to spray everything!

I know Jenn has already posted her Sour Cherry Slab Pie (which is very wonderful), so I chose Nick Malgeieri’s Sour Cherry Crumble recipe. Sort of, a combo between a crumble and a pie. You get the wonderful pie type crust with the delicious topping a of typical crumble and in my opinion that is one combination that can’t go wrong. The original recipe is actually made with blueberries, however in Nick’s book the Modern Baker, he offers a sour cherry variation which I have included below. This pie was very simple to make (which is always nice) with standard directions and ingredients. The only hard, no, more like torturous part was waiting until the pie cool to room temperature so I could eat it. I tried to distract myself from the pie by talking on the phone, but all I could hear was blah, blah, blah and the voice in my head saying – I just want pie in my mouth. Gimme. But apparently, if this pie is cut before it has cooled completely then it will be a disaster. So luckily, I was able to hold off long enough to cut the pie in perfect form! However, I do recommend serving this pie with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream, it blends wonderfully with the tartness of the cherries. So if you have any sour cherries, line your kitchen with plastic and get pitting, cuz this pie is well worth it. YUM! Sour Cherry Crumble (From the Modern Baker, Nick Malgieri) (Makes one 9-inch, (23cm) pie, about 8 generous servings) Crumble Topping 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (leveled off) 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed (I used dark brown) 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted Sour Cherry Filling 2 ¼ pounds (1kg) sour cherries, rinsed, dried, stemmed and pitted ¼ cup granulated sugar 4 tablespoons cornstarch 2 tablespoons water ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 10 pieces 1, 9-inch single pie crust, unbaked, made from Sweet Tart Dough (Recipe included below) Set a rack on the lowest level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees First, prepare the crumble topping. Combine the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a bowl and stir well to mix. Stir the brown sugar into the melted butter and then scrape It into the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the butter so that all the flour is evenly moistened. Set aside while preparing the filling. For the filling, put 1 cup of the sour cherries and all the sugar in a medium saucepan. Set the pan over low heat and stir often to bruise the berries so they release their juices as the mixture heats up and their juices dissolve the sugar. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the berry mixture is boiling. While the berry mixture is coming to a boil, whisk the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl. Stir in a bout ½ cup of the berry juices, and then pour the cornstarch mixture into the billing juices, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula. Cook, stirring constantly, until the juices thicken, return to a boil, and become clear. Put the remaining berries in a large bowl with the nutmeg. Use a large rubber spatula to fold in the thickened juices. Fold in the butter and scrape the filling into the prepared pie crust. Use your fingertips to break the crumble into ¼ or ½ inch crumbs. Scatter the crumbs evenly over the filling. Bake the pie until the crust and crumbs are well coloured and baked through and the filling is gently bubbling, about 40 minutes. Cool the pie on a rack and serve it a room temperature. Serving: Make sure the pie has cooled completely or it will be impossible to serve intact wedges. Cut the pie at the table and use a triangular pie spatula to lift out the wedges. If you have some vanilla ice cream lying around, this is the time to use it. Storage: Keep this pie at room temperature on the day it is baked. Cover it with foil to keep beyond the first day.

Sweet Tart Dough (Makes one 10-11 inch tart crust or one 9-inch pie crust) 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour ¼ cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces 1 large egg 1 large egg yolk 1 tablespoon water Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse several times to mix. Add the butter and pulse repeatedly until the butter is finely mixed into the dry ingredients – you do not want any visible pieces of butter. Add the egg, egg yolk, and water. Pulse repeatedly until the dough forms a ball. Invert the food processor bowl over a floured work surface to turn out the dough. Carefully, remove the blade and transfer any dough on it to the work surface. Form the dough into a disk about ½ inch (1 cm) thick. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate it. Storage: Keep the dough refrigerated for up to 3 days before using it.