Cherry Pie

So my latest weird thing around the house is the baking of cherry pies. It all started when I discovered a can of pie filling in the pantry and a leftover store bought pie crust in the fridge. Being a lover of desserts, this soon led to an impromptu pie-type dessert which was pretty good. Another part of the weirdness of getting older is that as an adult my tastes are changing. Growing up, I would rather skip dessert than to eat cherry pie. But as an adult, cherry pie has become my pie preference. This adult-onset craving led me to pick up ingredients at the store to attempt a cherry pie to rival all cherry pies. But, being the non-baker that I am, I got the wrong can of fruit and had to actually create a cherry pie filling from Bing cherries. This led to some experimentation and the following recipe which has become a favorite...in fact I just baked this one today!

So, for the benefit of all mankind...my Cherry Crumble Pie Recipe...not exactly from scratch, but fun and yummy nonetheless!

Kevin’s Cherry Crumble Pie
Makes 2 Pies

For the topping:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and butter in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter, combine all ingredients until evenly mixed. Place in refrigerator while preparing filling.

For the filling:
4 15 oz. cans of Bing cherries, drained – reserve 1 cup of juice
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract

In a small bowl, add the almond extract to the reserve cherry juice. Add the cornstarch and sugar into the juice and mix until completely dissolved.

Place two store-bought pie crusts into two lightly greased 9-inch pie plates. Divide the cherries and place the cherries in the crust, forming a single layer. Pour ½ of the cherry juice/cornstarch/almond extract mixture into each pan of cherries.

Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely.

Place the pie plates on a sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the cherries are bubbly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Oh...and another reason I love cherry pie...it reminds me of the Trinity. A good cherry pie is runny on the inside. If you cut the pie into three equal pieces, you show the lines of the cut on the surface. But once the knife has passed through (and once you attempt to remove the piece in tact from the pan) the cherry filling will all run together. So it is with the Trinity...Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. On the surface, three distinct personalities but on the inside, all the same essence. At least that's how my mind can wrap around it! (Thanks to Mike Warnke for the illustration.)