Favorite Cherry Pie (or other pie) recipe?

I seem to have misplaced my pie recipes, but I'll post a couple when I find them again.
I know I've got one for gooseberry pie and another for lemon pie. ... <lol> I was just thinking of cherries when I posted this thread, is all.

Anyone else want to share their favorite pie recipes? Any kind of pie (sweet or savory) is fine.
If you aren't willing to share the recipe, just go ahead and say what your favorite kind of pie is.

-Share, Improve, Preserve- Let's make this thread a great resource for all of us, and especially for those who have a big harvest and no idea what to do with it.

My favorites are apple and pumpkin pie. I basically use any old generic apple pie filling recipe. The difference is that I mix in a little brown sugar with the white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I also will sometimes use Fuji apples in place of Granny Smiths.

Fresh Gooseberry Pie

Almond Pastry (I believe we just used an oil crust) for 2-crust pie
3 C fresh gooseberries
1 1/2 C sugar (We used half the amount of sugar as we were using dessert type [sweet] gooseberries, and it was still very sweet. If you are sensitive to tartness, use full amount of sugar.)
3 Tbls quick acting tapioca
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbls. butter or margarine

Crush 3/4 C. gooseberries and add to sugar, tapioca, and salt. Stir in remainder of berries. Cook and stir until mixture thickens.
Turn into pastry-lined 9" pie pan. Dot with butter. Adjust top crust and flute edges; cut vents. Brush with milk.
Bake in hot oven (425F) 35-45 minutes, or until crust is golden. Serve slightly warm.

Almond Pastry: Before adding water to blended flour and shortening in making pastry for a 2-crust pie, add 1 tsp. almond extract. Also good for peach and cherry pies.

Raspberry Glace Pie

Baked 9" pie shell
1 qt. red raspberries
1 C. water
1 C. sugar
3 Tbls cornstarch
Few drops red food color
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 (3 oz) pkg. cream cheese (room temperature)
1 Tbls. milk
Whipped cream (opt.) (I don't use whipped cream with this. I do sometimes use sour cream on my portion of the pie, to bring out the flavor more.)

Wash berries gently in cold water, lift out and spread on paper toweling to drain thoroughly.
Place 1 C. berries and 2/3 C. water in saucepan; simmer 3 minutes. Run through strainer to remove seeds.
Blend sugar, cornstarch, and remaining 1/3 C. water. Add to cooked raspberries and cook until mixture in thick and translucent, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add food color and lemon juice. Cool.
Comine cream cheese with milk and spread evenly over bottom of pie shell. Pour remaining berries into pie shell, reserving a few of the prettiest for garnishing. Spread cooled, cooked berry mixture over berries. Chill until firm, at least 2 hours. Serve garnished with whipped cream and whole berries.

Enjoy!
Still looking for the lemon pie recipe.

Pumpkin pie

My Southern hemisphere spot makes this the season for pumpkin pie.
Here's a kind-of recipe:
Blind-bake an unsweetened short pastry crust. (I'm not into sweet)
I make big, deep, pumpkin pies

Filling:
About 400g of your tastiest, orangest pumpkin, peeled.
1/2-1 cup Soft Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Allspice
1 tsp Cinnamon
pinch grated nutmeg
grind of black pepper
1/2 tsp Ground ginger
orange zest
vanilla
3 Eggs - lightly beaten
1 cup cream


Preheat oven to 160-170c.
Steam pumpkin and mash till smooth. I use a stick blender. Add rest of ingredients, mix well.
I pass it throgh a sieve, but that's just me
Check flavour. Add more sugar or spice if desired
Pour into cooked base, bake for 30 min or till set. Cool and serve with whipped cream.
How about maple syrup in the pie and ground pecans/walnuts in the pastry?
I'm not into bourbon, but if you like that sort of thing...or maybe with a tumbler of whiskey. Or coffee.

For us Yanks that may not be familiar with that new fangled metric sh stuff:
400g equals .8818 lbs (14.11oz) ...sounds like a pound to me. And 160-170° C = 320-338° F

My all-time favorite pumpkin pie recipe is from the Moosewood cookbook's No Fault Pumpkin Pie. It's a little soft-ish compared to some, but just the right amount of sweet and spice to me.

When I make fruit fillings for pies, crisps, or cobblers, I've been sweetening with apple juice concentrate or maple syrup, and thickening with tapioca starch (to be grain free). It's been working well for us.

The maple/bourbon flavors for the pumpkin pie reminds me that I found organic, bourbon barrel aged maple syrup that I've been wanting to try. Pumpkin pie might be the perfect opportunity!

I found this lovely thread when I was looking for a place to post this:


(Or see the recipe here:  https://www.naturalgrocers.com/turkeys/get-inspired/recipes/purple-sweet-potato-pie/.)

It even has a grain-free crust! Haven't tried it yet, but I think it's SO lovely with that color!

If when I get time, I'll try to perfect improve the recipe for the vegan, grain-free, lower sugar, lemon-cherry tart I've made for Paul and share it here.
 

Cherry pie? Yep.

Bake a crust.
Fill it with pitted cherries, cooked or raw.
Fill it with homemade cherry jello.
When set, cover in whipped cream.

French cherry pie is good for thin slices, artistic merit and delicate flavor:

Make a sweet crust.
Pour a thin layer of custard in the bottom.
Arrange one layer of halved cherries as artistically as you like.
Bake.
Paint the top with melted jelly (not jam!), any flavor you like.
Cool in the fridge, eat cold.

The top should glisten with the jelly glaze.

I'm gonna give love to crumbles.  The pie that needs no crust! I don't have a recipe on hand, but the crust is replaced with a mixture of oatmeal, brown sugar, and butter. Sprinkle it on top of your filling before baking. Its the reason i expand my blackberry plants every year. More BlackBerry crumble!

It may be more of a cobbler, but those that are timid to make a pie from scratch-give it a try. Its quick. Its easy. Its good.

This is not my picture. I make them in individual small cast iron skillets (6" diameter?) and top them with ice cream.

 I love pies - all kinds, even the sickly sweet ones like pecan pies. So does my hubby. Years ago he was complaining that an ordinary 9-10 in pie didn't last long enough. After the umpteenth complaint, I got peeved enough to make him a large-enough pie. I dug out an old-fashioned enameled dish pan, and spent the next 2 hours peeling and slicing tart apples to fill it 2/3rd's or more full. I added enough sugar and cinnamon  to satisfy his sweet tooth and mixed up an oatmeal crumble top with milk, spices, salt, and more sugar and then baked it at 350F till top was browning nicely and the apple filling was soft. I should've called it The Harried Cook's Revenge! It took him 3 days to eat it. He didn't complain again about small pies for several decades. He rarely eats any pies these days due to type 2 diabetes.
Cherry pie is my hands down favourite - with a caveat. The filling must be made with tart cherries, sufficient sweetness w/o being cloying, and the crust must be a good lard pastry. The commercial offerings have disappointed me for years, and I rarely/never eat them.

What is the easier vegan pie to make that would suit beginners?

Vegan and easy... many pies are vegan or easy to make vegan.

If it says shortening or butter, I usually do coconut oil with a splash of sunflower seed oil and a tiny bit of salt.

If it says milk, I choose unsweetened soy or almond milk.

For heavy cream, I can usually either go with whipped egg whites or coconut cream (coconut cream is the creamy stuff inside a refrigerated coconut milk can).

That said,  the easiest vegan pie might just be crushing Oreos to make a crust (or buying a non-dairy cookie crumb crust), then filling it with lightly melted non- dairy icecream, then freezing it.

Fruit pies are not that much harder usually...but they are harder than pooring melted fake icecream into a pre made crust and refreezing it.

My favorite pies are pecan pies and rhubard pies.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vIkZH8KQCY

My mom's grape pie (or her strawberry-rhubarb pie that I don't have the recipe for)!!! This goes into a standard 9" pie shell:

4 cups prepared concord grapes  (has to be concord for the right flavor)*
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon butter.

mix together and bake @400 for 25 minutes.

Then mix (for the crumb topping):

1/2 cup flour  1/2 cup sugar,  mix.  Cut in 1/4 cup butter, cover top of pie and bake 15 minutes more.


* to prepare grape filling. wash whole grapes, slip skin from grapes (pulp will just pop out as squeezed gently.  Put skins in a bowl and set aside.  put pulp in small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.  Press cooked pulp through a wire mesh strainer into a bowl to remove seeds.  Add the skins.

This one is half way between a pie and a jam tart, it goes down well at our house.

You will want:

1 jar (1lb) apricot jam, mine is homemade.
1lb unsweetened stewed cooking (very tart) apple.
Juice and zest of a lemon.
1-2 tablespoons corn flour (possibly cornstarch in US terms?)
Shortcrust pastry.

Warm the jam and mix with the apple, lemon and corn flour. If you mix it cold it comes out speckled! I use this to fill a two crust pie, but it would work with a lattice top or open top too.

*nb IMHO this is Not Good served with cream, but works with custard or ice cream. Best served hot or warm, still nice cold.

Since it's spring:

Grandmother's Rhubarb Pie

1/ In a large pie plate put a layer of rhubarb and then shake a little flour over it.
2/ Spread a second layer of rhubarb and if it feels moist, shake flour over it too. (about 5 1/2 cups of chopped rhubarb - fresh or frozen)
3/ Lightly sprinkle with nutmeg.
4/ In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup brown sugar and 1 Tbsp of flour. Then beat in two large eggs and a generous tsp of vanilla. Pour it over the pie.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 15 min then 350 degree oven until it's set (about 45 min more).

Sooo.... my mother learned this from her mother and we think it came from the generation before that. I made my mother choose the quantities she wanted, and then measured them in order to write this recipe down. When my Aunts found out I had a "written copy" of this recipe, I was threatened with no more dinner invitations if I didn't give them both copies. We think it was called "Grandmother's Rhubarb Pie" because it was from my Aunts' grandmother, and she was removed from school at the age of 7 when her own mother died and expected to keep house for the family and so she never learned to read or write, so the recipe was passed down orally.

I've never liked cherry pie and certainly never thought they were worth making. The flavors are so boring compared to berry pie. But a good friend had a birthday and he loves cherry pie so I found this recipe and made him one. It was amazing!!  

I used a gf/oil free crust recipe instead of this one, but otherwise I followed the filling recipe exactly. Will definitely make it again:

https://bakerbynature.com/foolproof-cherry-pie/

Pie making is a couples project in my house.  I don't make pies but I do can all the pie fillings.  My husband's family is all about the pie at family events and holidays.  It usually averages 1 pie for every 2 people attending because everyone brings at least one pie.  So we have to have some serious pie skill per family tradition.  

I don't have my husband's recipe handy for crusts but it is basically an Alton Brown pie crust except he uses vodka instead of water to make the crust flakier.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pie-crust-recipe-1915025

The flavors I can tend to vary year to year based on what fruit I grow that year or can get free or low cost. I will use honey instead of sugar for most of these since we have our own bee hives. I prefer Cornabys EZ Gel over other brands of modified cornstarch for canning.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00910LUQS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Most of my recipes are out of The Complete Book of Home Preserving by Ball Canning Or Stocking Up by Carol Hupping.

I make the following types of pie filling:
Blueberry Lime
Strawberry Rhubarb
Raspberry
Apple Honey

Peach Honey
https://pickyourown.org/peachpiefilling.htm

Pear Honey  This one I am trying for the first time in the next day or two because we were gifted 2 shopping bags of pears.
https://www.sbcanning.com/2015/08/pear-pie-filling.html

Cherry
https://simplebites.net/summer-canning-series-cherry-pie-filling-recipe/

PickYourOwn.org has some useful tips and information on using honey instead of sugar.  
http://www.pickyourown.org/SubstitutingHoneyForSugar.htm

I also like to can pie fillings, apple, blueberry lime, especially. My problem is that if they don't get eaten during the first year or two they separate and the thickening tends to gel. Should I be doing something differently when I construct them or should I just try to get them eaten more quickly? Maybe the thickening agent makes a difference? Thanks for any suggestions here.

Roberta, if your keeping the filling that long, one idea is to just can fruit in syrup and add the starch at time of baking.

Thanks, Mik. I do can cherries and raspberries, sometimes pears and apples, in light syrup. I will probably let it go at that.

roberta mccanse wrote:I also like to can pie fillings, apple, blueberry lime, especially. My problem is that if they don't get eaten during the first year or two they separate and the thickening tends to gel. Should I be doing something differently when I construct them or should I just try to get them eaten more quickly? Maybe the thickening agent makes a difference? Thanks for any suggestions here.

It may be your thickening agent.  I have never had a separating problem with  Cornabys EZ Gel and some of my pie fill has been on my shelves for 3 or 4 years.

I am a blackberries or pear clobber man myself.

I canned pear pie filling for the first time last year.  It is absolutely amazing!   I haven't done any with black berries yet because we haven't managed to grow more of them than my husband can eat.

Besides pie filling, sauce and fruit leather, I like to core and slice the apples very thin, then dehydrate at 105*. Supposed to keep all the healthy goodies in. Gets crispy- LOVE IT! Then I have to store in vacuum sealed jars (w/ Pump-N-Seal - COOL TOOL!) to keep the crispness.
DON’T ROLL FRUIT LEATHER IN WAX PAPER (should peel off, right?) AND STORE IN FRIDGE!! It GLUES to the wax paper and takes on a very unappetizing texture of-  of... WARNING! Unappetizing word picture ahead! — Well, my ER nurse daughter laughed at the now flaccid rolls, and said they would be great for teaching newbie nurses how to catheterize a particular patient population...
😬
The ones I rolled in wax paper and stored in the vacuum sealed jars stored very well.

I remember mom making this cherry cobbler when she had too many cherries. She would make a batter, like for a yellow cake or a dinette cake and then just plopped the ripe cherries over the thick batter [They sank if the batter was too thin, but with a thick batter, they would stay in suspension]. She left the pits, she said, because "it saves you from gluttony".
Indeed, you had to be careful eating it since the pits were still in the cake. [Personally, I think she was just not willing to spend that kind of time removing the pits!] She never owned a cherry pitter so in the rare instances when she did a few, she used a bobby pin. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/257398/fresh-cherry-cake/
I got myself a pitter and I went to Door county [WI] this past weekend. I bought 16 quarts. Of course, we could not eat all of these in pies, so I set about canning the filling. The beauty of canning the cherries *without* the thickener is that you could *also* use it in cobblers like this.
Since I didn't have the proper thickener to add to the mix before I canned it I opted to can it without the thickener. I'll add cornstarch or tapioca later, when I actually make the pies.
The best was the plain chocolate cake I baked [from a mix. Yes, I can be lazy too]. Since I had a bunch of pitted cherries leftover after I plopped about 1 pint of them in the batter, I took 2 cups of sweet cherry juice [leftover from the canning] 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch plus another pint of sweet cherries. I cooked the juice and the cornstarch with the cherries and I have a wonderful cherry sauce to pour on the cake. Yum! I didn't need to put whipped cream on it. It was just great as is.
Another recipe is Kirsch, which is a cherry liqueur made with the cherry pits. Yes! and just the cherry pits!. Now, Kirsch is colorless when you buy it. I asked my hubby if the color was important to him. He said. Do whatever. The last batch was great.
I had used whole wild cherries last year. They are tiny and not worth pitting. They grow wild around here as we had tons of them [and I'll do that again, but they seem late this year]. The recipe is easy as pie. No, actually simpler. It is not a liquor but an alcohol infusion. So broken cherry pits and Vodka is all you use.
I have not made it with stones from sweet cherries, and as long as I have quite  few, now is the time to try:
https://larderlove.com/homemade-kirsch/ What I like also about this recipe is that the amount of time spent in the Vodka is immaterial after the minimum, and apparently, you can keep adding broken stones all along the summer if you buy them.
This time, I'm going to get a coffee grinder with burrs. I used my Ninja last year but it was hard on the motor, I think. [And I'm too lazy to break them with a hammer]

Can't eat wheat anymore and nut crusts are way too high in fat so I just eat raw cherries and sometimes with coconut creamy milk.

Whenever I make a pie, I like to use tapioca instead of flour or cornstarch.  It comes in a little red and white box and has recipes on it.  You do need to let the fruit, sugar, extract and tapioca sit for a bit (1/2 hour?) to soften.  I usually mush some of the fruit to get some juices out for this to happen.  I prefer the tapioca because it doesn't get clumpy, cloudy or affect the taste or texture in a weird way like other options do.  Also, I am a big fan of almond extract. Of course, it's a natural with cherry pie, but I also love it with blueberries, peaches and other fruits.  
My last tip is to make or get some pie stencils.  When you're rolling out the top dough, place the stencil on and using a rolling pin, roll it lightly into the flat dough and sprinkle some cinnamon over it.  With a finger, rub the cinnamon into the holes of the stencil.  Using a knife, cut around the round circumference of the stencil.  Carefully lift off the stencil, keeping it level so as no cinnamon blobs down through the holes in the process of removing the it. From here, just carefully lift the stenciled dough circle and place on your pie.  Proceed as you would with any crust, being sure to put small venting holes in the upper crust.  I use my stencils all of the time and people are blown away by how pretty they are and they think that it must be much more difficult than it is!  The stencils can be used in many ways: powdered sugar or cocoa on a cake top, frosting can be used with a spatula, etc.  Here is an example:
https://www.confectioncouturestencils.com/products/french-medallion-cake-stencil-top-by-designer-stencils