Well HOORAY! readers, winter is finally upon us and the colder weather makes a cosy blanket, good book, and a humble pie sound like a dream.

Winter tis the season to bake and who doesn’t love a good pie? They are hearty, indulgent and the perfect dessert to serve on a cold winters’ night. Pies are versatile, allow you to work with seasonal and locally sourced ingredients and are simply delicious. They are a great recipe to serve at casual dinners, birthdays, afternoon tea or any occasion.

Today we bring you a super delicious sour cherry pie courtesy of one of our favourite cake bakers, Cherry Murphy from Cherry Cakes.

Cherry says, “When I’m not in the kitchen whipping up cakes for my business Cherry Cakes, you will probably find me at home in my kitchen baking pies. For me baking has always been the greatest source of joy and I feel so lucky that it’s how I make my living. My father always used to say that I had “flour in my blood” as we have a history of pastry chefs in my family that goes back to my great grandmother.”

“I’m a bit obsessed with making pies. I love how versatile they are. As a chef I love to work with seasonal ingredients and there are hundreds of pie recipes to go with whatever you can find fresh at the markets. This is one of my favourite pies, partly for namesake, and partly because it’s so delicious.”http://aparat.com.au

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Pie dough (makes one pie): 225g unsalted butter | 2 ½ cups of plain flour| 1 pinch of salt | 2 tbsp sugar | 1 scraped vanilla bean (don’t throw out the pod, save it for jams.) | ½ tsp cinnamon ground | ½ cup of buttermilk |

Cherry pie filling: 2 x 670g jars of pitted cherries | 2 tbsp sugar | 1 tbsp plain flour | One egg for glazing | 2 tbsp brown sugar for the pie top

“My favourite thing about this pie filling is that it’s not an exact science. I tweak it every time I make it. Feel free to have a play around and add some extra flavours and spice.”

WHAT TO DO

Make the pie dough:

  1. Making the pie dough can either be done by hand or in a food processor. If you’re using your hands simply place all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
  2. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the dry mix.
  3. With your fingertips rub the butter into the dry mix until it starts to combine. The aim isn’t to make the mix look like sand, but instead to leave a few little lumps. These are what will create pockets of air when they melt which will give you a flaky pastry.
  4. Add your buttermilk and mix gently with a spoon until a rough dough starts to form. You don’t want to over mix otherwise you will end up with a tough dough.
  5. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and place it in the fridge for up to an hour. This will give the chance for the gluten (and yourself) to relax.

Make the pie filling and assembly:

  1. Drain cherries, and check for any pips (I always find at least one!)
  2. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients with the cherries and give it all a little stir.
  3. Oil a pie or tart tin (I prefer one with a fluted side and pop out base.)
  4. Take the pie dough out from the fridge and divide into thirds.
  5. Take two thirds of the dough and roll it out into a circle on a lightly floured surface.
  6. Loosely roll the dough over the rolling pin and drape over the pie tin. Using your fingertips press gently into all the corners to make sure the pastry is pushed into every nook and cranny.
  7. Trip off the excess pastry and pour in your filling.
  8. The remaining pastry and roll out on a lightly floured surface until it’s about ¾ cm in thickness. Cut into long strips a little longer than your pie dish.
  9. Crisscross the pie long strips over the top of the pie and gently press the ends into the pie sides.
  10. Lightly whisk your egg and brush over the top of the pie.
  11. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

AND THEN

At this stage the pie can either be baked in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes or until golden brown, or it can be placed in the fridge to be baked later. This is a perfect trick if you are having a dinner party and want to serve warm pie, but don’t want the fuss of preparing it in front of guestshttp://aparat.com.au

CREDITS

Made by Cherry Murphy

Photographed by Zosia Fabijanska

Sour Cherry Pie With Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Crust