Sour Cherry Pie just might be the greatest of all fruit pies! I love the sweet/tart filling in contrast to the flaky pastry. It’s summer dessert perfection.
I love all pies, especially fruit pies. I waited more than 10 years for this pie. Seriously, I planted my sour cherry tree over a decade ago with visions of making cherry pies for my kids.
Sadly, now that the tree has finally given me a bumper crop of cherries, neither of my kids are living home.
I guess our plans don’t always work out exactly as we had in mind, but I’m still thrilled with my sour cherries and thoroughly enjoyed a couple of slices of pie myself.
I keep the ingredients for the cherry pie filling simple because I don’t think the fruit needs any embellishment. No need to add add lemon juice or zest as I do for many fruit desserts because the cherries are plenty tart naturally. Some recipes add almond extract to cherry pie filling, but there is a natural hint of almond flavor in the cherry so I don’t think it’s needed.
If you don’t have access to fresh cherries you can look for frozen, canned or jarred cherries in a well stocked grocery store and, of course, you can even buy them on-line.
Click through the step-by-step photos to see how to make fresh sour cherry pie filling:
For this pie I made a traditional lattice crust. It looks so pretty even when the juices overflow a bit. If you’ve never made a lattice crust it’s really very easy.
Watch this video to see how to make a lattice pie crust:
A little egg wash and a generous sprinkling of sugar on the top crust is all you need to finish your beautiful creation. This is the quintessential July 4th dessert. Enjoy!!
Got Sour Cherries? Here are some more recipes for you: Sour Cherry Crumb Pie, Sour Cherry Strudel, Sour Cherry Cobbler, Rustic Sour Cherry Cake, New York Cheesecake with Sour Cherry topping.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please consider leaving a 5-star review.
Sour Cherry Pie
The quintessential summer pie! Sour cherry with a lattice top crust.
Ingredients
- 1 batch Perfect Pie Crust divided into 2 equal pieces
- 3# pitted sour cherries and their juice (see note)
- 2 cups (16 oz, 454g) granulated sugar
- 5 tbsp (1.25 oz, 35g) corn starch
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of water for an egg wash
Instructions
For the Crust:
- Roll one 1/2 the pie dough to line a 9" pie pan. Sprinkle the dough in the pan with a little flour.
- Roll the other 1/2 of the dough, fold the dough in 1/2, sprinkle and fold in 1/2 again. Place the folded dough into the pie pan. Wrap the pie pan in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator while the filling is prepared.
For the Filling:
- Toss the pitted cherries with 1 cup of the sugar and allow to macerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- After 30 minutes drain the cherries, reserving the juice. Remove 1/2 cup of the juice and combine with the corn starch. Stir until smooth.
- Place the remaining juice and the remaining 1 cup of sugar into a small saucepan and bring to a full boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until it returns to a boil and thickens.
- Remove the thickened juice from the heat and immediately pour over the pitted cherries and toss to combine. Pour the cherries into the prepared pie crust. Brush the edge of the dough with egg wash.
- Unfold the dough for the top of the pie. To make a lattice crust cut the dough into 1/2" to 1" strips. Lay half the strips over the pie, the weave the other strips to form the lattic.
- Brush the lattice top with egg wash and sprinkle generously with granulated sugar. Place the pie on a sheet pan lined with parchment or foil to catch any overflowing juices.
- Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for about 1 hour until the juices in the middle of the pie are bubbling.
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Lauren Franklin
Wednesday 28th of July 2021
Hi Eileen! I am making this with blackberries and your sourdough crust. Should I still cook at 350 for an hour with this fruit?
Eileen Gray
Wednesday 28th of July 2021
Cook until the fruit at the very center of the pie is bubbling. Generally this takes about an hour.
Lauren
Monday 14th of June 2021
Hi Eileen,
I have a 10.5" pie pan and a 9" ceramic pie dish. Which would be better to use for this recipe? I'm making cherry pie with your sourdough crust.
Eileen Gray
Monday 14th of June 2021
I always use a 9" pie pan.
William
Friday 29th of March 2019
Modern ovens do not have the temperature in F Is your aite meant only for the USA ?
Eileen Gray
Saturday 30th of March 2019
My site is meant for anyone who wants to try the recipes. I offer the recipes with metric measurements so those who use metric have the measurements available. I list the baking temps in Fahrenheit because that's what I use in my kitchen. You can do a quick google search to convert from F to C.
Tania
Thursday 2nd of July 2015
Eileen this looks amazing! I do have a question - we love blueberry pie and each time I make it with fresh blueberries I end up with the consistency being too watery. Any tips?
Eileen Gray
Thursday 2nd of July 2015
Hi Tania! Do you use corn starch as the thickener for the blueberry pie? When you use corn starch you have to be sure to cook the pie long enough to activate the thickening power of the starch.
Sofia
Wednesday 1st of July 2015
This pie looks super delicious! I love cherries ( usually just eat them plain) but I'll sure give this pie a try! though I can never get the lattice pattern right :p
Eileen Gray
Wednesday 1st of July 2015
Thanks, Sofia. I love to eat sweet black cherries as a snack and cook the sour cherries. Good luck with the lattice crust. I just checked out your blog, the food looks delicious. I can't wait to try out some of your recipes.