Homemade Cherry Pie and Crust

Like I had mentioned in my Pumpkin Pie post, I was on a pie kick and this Cherry Pie was one of my choices to make. I used a different recipe for the crust (pumpkin pie one here) and I think I like this one a lot better. It was from an Amish Book...and my experiences with the Amish and Mennonites have been wonderful, especially in the food department! So I was very excited to try it out. Yum Yum Yum!

Recipe for Crust and Filling:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup lard (I used Crisco... no lard in my pantry!) ;)

1 large egg

1/3 cup cold water

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 (21oz) "Comstock" Cherry Filling cans

1.In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Stir to blend. Add the lard (crisco) and rub it into the flour with your finger tips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg, water, and vinegar and stir with a fork until the dry ingredients are moistened. Form the dough into a ball and divide that into 2 balls. Form a ball into a disk and roll it out to a 1/8-inch thickness on a floured surface.

2.Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie pan and trim the edges to a 1-inch overhang. Fold the dough under and crimp the edges. (NOTE: You can use my method from the Pumpkin Pie Post)

3. --save the trimmings to make a design if you want on your pie. I took a toothpick and stenciled out 2 cherries and cut them out with a knife. I am quite proud of myself for it! hehe

4. Place the Cherry filling in the pie pan -roll out the other ball of dough and place over the filling (or, if you are doing lattice design, cut the dough into strips and lay over the filling accordingly). Trim the edges and seals the pie crusts together. You can make a fancy edging if you desire as well. If you made a design to go on top go ahead and place that and make a few slits into the pie for ventilation during baking.

5. Preheat oven to 425°F.

6. Bake for 15 mins, then decrease oven temperature to 350F and back for 30 min, or until crust is golden brown. If you find your crust browning too quickly, cover it loosely with tin foil!