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Fresh Cherries for $9.90kg? I think I might make a pie!  This is actually a ‘free-form tart’ but, you know the song, we’ve got to sing a few lines…

She’s my cherry pie
Cool drink of water
Such a sweet suprise
Taste so good
Make a grown man cry
Sweet cherry pie

Aw YEAH! 

This was lots of fun to make, the pastry is lovely to work with, I recommend trying this recipe out, and put any sort of fruit in the middle, or make little cookies.  In the spirit of learning and sharing, I used a technique that I learnt from Julia, where I brushed the pastry with cream then dusted it with icing sugar before putting it in the oven. It makes the pastry shiny and crunchy.

Ingredients

90g plain flour

50g butter, chilled, cubed

40g caster sugar

1tbsp cold water

a handful of cherries

10 Almonds, or 2tbsp Almond Meal

1tbsp Icing sugar,  extra to dust

 

Method

1. Place flour, sugar and butter into a food processor and blend until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. I used a Tupperware Quick Chef II instead. It works just as well, and you get an awesome arm workout!

2. Add the tablespoon of water and blend again, it will come to form lumps or a ball.

3. Flour your hands and the bench, and knead the dough until it becomes unified.

4. Wrap in plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.

5. In the mean time, pit the cherries into a bowl, then add the icing sugar and toss.

6. If using whole almonds (i didn’t have any almond meal) Buzz about 15 of them with a stick blender in the cup that comes with the stick blender. Buzz them until they resemble almond meal. Or alternatively crush in a mortar and pestle.

6. Take the pastry out of the plastic wrap and flour 2 pieces of baking paper. Put the ball of pastry in the middle and start rolling it out slowly with a rolling pin, doing quarter turns after every few rolls. Roll it out til about 3-5mm thick. Trim any rough edges.

7. sprinkle the base with almond meal, and arrange cherries on top. Fold the edges up around outside of the cherries. Brush the pastry with cream and dust with icing sugar

8. Pop in an oven at 180 degrees until cooked and golden. Serve with Yoghourt, cream or icecream.

Serves 2-4

The pastry recipe is an adaptation from ABC’s delicious – Wicked. Recipe: Maeve O’Meara, pg 78.