This year is very special for me, as it will be my first 4th of July as an American Citizen! I went through the Naturalization Ceremony on May 29th, a day I will never forget. Of course, I am looking forward to this weekend…
To share with you our favorite recipe for a very American pie, I introduce a guest blogger: my beloved hubby, who is much MUCH better with sweets and desserts in general than me.
Mom’s cherry pie. I grew up watching the women of the family make all kinds of fantastic sweets in the kitchen, including apple dumplings (mom), fudge (sisters), taffy (grandma), and a whole lot of cakes and pies (mom, grandma, aunt Mildred). I wasn’t a participant or apprentice in the creation of these delicacies, except for stirring the fudge, pulling the taffy or (happily) cleaning the beaters. Nevertheless, the memories gave me the interest to make a few sweet things on my own. Here’s a 4th of July pie that you and your kids will never forget…
The Joy of Cooking is my kitchen bible, and here’s the Rombauer-Becker recipe for a fruit pie
(p. 650 of 2nd ed):
BERRY OR CHERRY PIE WITH FRESH FRUIT
1. Line a pan with pie dough (see below), or buy a frozen crust
2. Prepare, by picking over and washing, 4 cups of berries or fresh sour cherries – let them drain thoroughly or even spread them on a towel to dry. For the 4th of July pie we made two pies, and prepared 4 cups of fresh blueberry filling and 4 cups of fresh cherry filling, then appropriately divided them between the two pies.
3. For each 4 cups of fresh berries or sour cherries, combine 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of flour, 1/12 T lemon juice, ½ t cinnamon, and 2T quick cooking tapioca. Mix and then mix with the berries by gently stirring. If don’t have a source of fresh sour cherries, as we did while living in Michigan (the Traverse City Cherry Festival is Jul. 3-11 this year), then buy a couple of cans and use 3 (drained) cups instead of 4. If the canned cherries are sweetened, then reduce the sugar in the cherry filling to 2/3 cup.
4. Let the fruit mixture(s) sit for 15 min or more while you preheat the oven to 450 F.
5. Fill the pie shell(s) with the berries or cherries. For the 4th of July pie, use a couple of pieces of heavy paper or cardboard to confine the blueberries to one quarter of the pie shell, then take the paper/cardboard out. Cut 2 T butter into pieces and distribute it over the berries.
6. Roll out some dough (see below) and cut lattice strips or the stars and stripes; assemble on the pie
7. Bake at 450 F for 10 min, and then reduce the heat to 350 F for an additional 40 min, until the pie is golden brown.
In case you are tempted to buy a frozen pie crust, please read this article (you can also read it for inspiration). To make the pie dough use your favorite recipe, but if you don’t have one, Sally recommends you use this.
Adorei rever esta torta! Quero um dia poder experimentar! Já mostrei pra todos que trabalham aqui comigo!
Tenham um otimo 4 de julho!
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awww your pie is so cute! It rocks!
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Thanks, Jackie!
(I love your blog, by the way….. 😉
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Picture perfect, Sally. It’s beautiful!
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Thank you, Lynne!
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Happy 4th Sally! And tell your husband his pie rocks.
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And, he also does a fantastic apple pie, will have to post some day…
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Adorable pie…and no fair about the pie crust. I can’t make one to save my life 😦
At least I will use a Pillsbury in a pinch. Usually I just avoid piemaking, le sigh.
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That pie crust from the photo took some abuse from me, I was about to trash the whole thing, but hubby saved the day. 🙂
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Gorgeous, and a wonderful alternative to those flag cakes you see everywhere…
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What a fabulous pie!!! Love it.
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Thank you very much, everybody! Husband is delighted by the comments…. and so am I
😉
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Very clever: I have never seen anybody do this with a cherry (or raspberry) and a blueberry section.
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