There are some recipes that are more than just something delicious to eat. They carry a little bit of summer with them.
Earlier this summer, my sister-in-law picked a beautiful batch of tart cherries, and I volunteered for the less glamorous part of the job—I pitted them. It was definitely a chore, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. I tossed the cherries with sugar, tucked them away in the freezer, and waited for the right moment to turn them into a homemade cherry pie.
That moment arrived and I’m so glad I waited.
I made a classic double-crust pie with a pretty lattice top, and the result was everything I hoped it would be: a flaky, golden crust surrounding a sweet-tart cherry filling that tasted like summer.
Tonight, I’m serving it for dinner because my 86-year-old dad loves cherry pie. Somehow, that makes all those cherries I pitted by hand feel even more worth it.
What kind of cherries are used for sour cherry pie?
When you hear sour cherries, tart cherries, or pie cherries, you’re generally talking about cherries from the sour cherry family. One of the most common varieties used for baking is Montmorency, a bright red tart cherry prized for its distinctive sweet-tart flavor and its ability to make an exceptional pie.
Unlike sweet cherries such as Bing or Rainier cherries, tart cherries have the acidity and flavor that make a cherry pie taste like a cherry pie. They’re especially delicious when baked with sugar because the tartness balances the sweetness of the filling and crust.
Fresh tart cherries have a very short season, which is one reason I love freezing them when they’re available. If you’re looking for another beautiful way to use cherries, try my Cherry Honey Ricotta Tart—a lighter, creamy dessert that lets the flavor of the cherries shine.
Fresh tart cherries have a very short season, which is one reason I love freezing them when they’re available. You can also find frozen pitted tart cherries, which are a wonderful option when fresh cherries aren’t in season. They are often sold in the freezer section, sometimes labeled “tart cherries,” “sour cherries,” or “pie cherries.”
How to pit the cherries
And if you find them already pitted, take the shortcut! Pitting fresh tart cherries is definitely a labor of love. If you’re working with fresh tart cherries, you’ll need to pit them before freezing or baking.
I use a simple paper clip to pop out the pits—just unfold one end, insert it into the stem end of the cherry, and hook the pit out.
It’s an old-fashioned little trick, but it works surprisingly well and means you don’t need a special cherry pitter. It still takes some time when you have a big bowl of cherries, but it’s worth it when you have a freezer full of summer cherries waiting to become pie.
Freezing tart cherries for pie
If you are lucky enough to get fresh tart cherries during cherry season, you can pit them and freeze them for later.
I froze mine with sugar, which is a traditional way to preserve tart cherries for baking. The sugar helps maintain their color and flavor, and cherries can be frozen with or without sugar.
If you’re using cherries that were already frozen with sugar, remember that you’ll need less additional sugar in your pie filling than you would with unsweetened frozen cherries.
If you purchase frozen tart cherries, check the package to see whether sugar has already been added. Some frozen tart cherries are individually quick frozen with no added sugar, while others are packed with sugar.
How to make sour cherry pie
This pie starts with a double pie crust. I like using a lattice crust for the top because it gives the pie that classic homemade appearance and lets the gorgeous ruby-red cherry filling peek through.
The filling is simple: tart cherries, sugar, cornstarch, a little lemon juice, vanilla, and a touch of almond extract. The almond extract is optional, but I love the way it complements the flavor of the cherries without overpowering them.
The cherries are tucked into the bottom crust, dotted with butter, and topped with strips of pastry woven into a lattice.
Once the lattice is brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with a little sugar, the pie goes into the oven until the crust is deeply golden and the cherry filling is bubbling.
The hardest part is waiting.
Let the pie cool for several hours before slicing. The filling needs time to thicken and set, and you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful slice instead of a runny filling.
A pie worth waiting for
This pie reminded me why I love making things from scratch.
The cherries were picked and given to me by my sweet sister in law, pitted by my hand, sweetened and frozen at the height of summer, and finally turned into a dessert that I get to share with my family months later.
That’s the best part of homemade food. Sometimes the recipe is really just a way of preserving a memory.
My dad is something of a cherry pie connoisseur, so I was especially interested to hear what he thought. After his first bite, he declared it the best cherry pie he has ever eaten.
His verdict? It wasn’t too sweet—it was just right. The tart cherries, balanced sweetness, and buttery golden crust were exactly what he loves about a good cherry pie.
Coming from my dad, who has eaten his fair share of cherry pie over the years, I couldn’t have received a better compliment.
And with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting alongside that warm slice of pie, it was the perfect way to enjoy those cherries my sister-in-law picked earlier this summer. All that pitting suddenly felt very worth it.
Classic Sour Cherry Pie with a Lattice Crust
Ingredients
For the Cherry Filling
- 6 cups frozen tart sour cherries, pitted
- 1 cup granulated sugar or less depending on whether the cherries were previously sweetened
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces
For the Crust
- 2 pie crusts homemade or refrigerated
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 –2 tablespoons coarse or granulated sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
Prepare the Filling
- If using frozen cherries, allow them to sit at room temperature for about 20–30 minutes, just until you can separate any frozen chunks. Do not completely thaw them.
- Place the cherries in a large bowl. If the cherries were previously frozen with sugar, include any accumulated cherry juice and reduce the amount of additional sugar accordingly.
- Add the sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice, vanilla, and almond extract. Stir gently until the cherries are evenly coated.
- Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes while you prepare the crust.
Assemble the Pie
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Roll out one pie crust and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate, leaving about ½ inch of crust hanging over the edge.
- Pour the cherry filling into the crust and dot the top with the butter.
- Roll out the second pie crust and cut it into 8–10 strips, about ¾–1 inch wide.
- Arrange the strips over the filling in a lattice pattern, weaving them over and under one another.
- Trim the excess crust around the edges, then fold or tuck the bottom crust over the ends of the lattice. Crimp the edges to seal.
- Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush the egg wash over the lattice and crust edges. Sprinkle with coarse or granulated sugar.
Bake
- Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking for 40–50 minutes, or until the crust is deeply golden brown and the cherry filling is visibly bubbling through the lattice and around the edges.
- If the crust begins to brown too quickly, loosely cover the edges with aluminum foil.
- Remove from the oven and allow the pie to cool for at least 4 hours before slicing. This gives the filling time to set.
Notes
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