This is a recipe for the Culinary Institute of America’s homemade Fresh Cherry Pie. This is the best cherry pie we’ve ever tasted, using fresh cherries and a beautiful pie filling that seems absolutely perfect in every way. A classic, a family favorite and a homemade pie that you can be very proud of.
We all love fruit pies, don’t miss this recipe for Peach Pie Using Canned Peaches. It’s a treat of a fruit dessert to enjoy year round.
Before We Talk Pie, Let’s Talk Homemade Pie Crust:
“And her biggest pet peeve was people who didn’t make their own pie crust.” The words stung. Me, her only daughter front and center at my mother’s funeral, guilty of her biggest pet peeve. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Since I had been doing plenty of the later, I found myself chuckling inside. Right then and there, and from that moment on, I made a vow to learn how to make a great pie crust. I had to! I owed it to myself and my mom.
Oh sure, I’ve made pie crusts. Let me rephrase that, I’ve fought with pie crusts. So losing that battle found me in the “lazy” category buying store bought crusts.
Fast forward two years later, and many hours spent in the Pastry Kitchen at Culinary School. I’ve learned to make pate brisee, the original and full-proof French recipe for tart and pie crust dough. And I learned it from one of the best Pastry Chefs in Denver, Chef Jenna DiLullo My husband is now referring to me as the “Queen of Tarts,” and I’m feeling very proud about the whole thing.
You can find the recipe for a classic French and perfect pie crust using butter right here on my site. This is a classic recipe that yields a beautiful flaky pie shell.
No matter what time of year, I’m always a sucker for warm fruit desserts; pies, tarts, cobblers, you name it, if it’s fruity with a crust or crunch, it’s got my name written all over it! I used to think peach pie was my absolute favorite…until now…until this cherry pie came into my life.
This cherry pie recipe calls for fresh cherries. I purchased bing cherries, a sweet cherry, that worked beautifully. You’ll need a cherry pitter to make this project bearable. They work quite well and turns the job into a breeze.
The Secret to Making A Great Fruit Pie:
Not only is this the best tasting cherry pie, the cherry pie filling is perfect in texture. A combination of tapioca starch and corn starch makes a thick base for the filling that holds up to any fork. Combined with fruit juice it forms a translucent gel that feels silky and light. And the science involved with the correct combination of sugar and starch is important not to disturb the pie crust and keep it nice and flaky. This recipe insures that all of the right ingredient combinations keep us from having a soggy, runny end result. It all boils down to the proper ratio of sugar and starch for proper gelatinization.
This recipe comes from the masters, the Culinary Institute of America. It’s from the book that my pastry chef instructor used quite often in class and is the one which she acquired because that’s where she attended culinary school.
Recipe for Fresh Cherry Pie:
I hope you give this Fresh Cherry Pie a try. And if you do, please come back and let me know how you liked it and give the recipe a star rating. Your feedback is valuable to me for developing future recipes. And if you have a favorite pie recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
Variations for this fruit pie recipe:
- Blueberry Pie: Substitute an equal amount of blueberries for the cherries
- Apple Pie: Substitute an equal amount of peeled, cored and sliced apples for the cherries
- Peach Pie: Substitute an equal amount of peeled, pitted and slices peaches for the cherries
- Nectarine Pie: Substitute an equal amount of peeled, pitted, ands slices nectarines for the cherries
More Fresh Fruit Pie Recipes:
- Fresh Peach Blueberry Pie
- French Pear Tart Bourdaloue with Apricot Rum Glaze
- Fresh Tomato Tart with Gruyere
- And if you’re interested in making a homemade all butter pie crust, How To Make an All Butter Pie Crust or Tart Shell
If you liked this recipe, please leave a star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I always appreciate your feedback and hearing how everything went.
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Fresh Cherry Pie
Ingredients
- ½ ounce Tapioca Starch
- 1 ounce Cornstarch
- 6 fluid ounces Cranberry Juice or equal parts water and cranberry juice, or apple juice
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Lemon juice
- 5 ounces Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 pound, 8 ounces Pitted Cherries
- 1 ounce Butter
- 1 recipe All Butter Double Pie Crust
- egg wash as needed
Instructions
- 1 Recipe All Butter Double Pie Crust. Divide the dough in half. Roll out one portion ⅛ inch thick and line the pie pan or tart shell. Refrigerate the shell for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, dock the shell with a fork, sides and bottom.
- Combine the tapioca and cornstarch with just enough of the fruit juice to make a slurry.
- Combine the nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice, sugar, salt and the remaining fruit juice and bring to a boil. Add the slurry and return the mixture to a boil, sitrring constantly. Add the cherries and bring to a boil once again. Add the butter and gently stir it in until melted. Cool completely.
- Spoon the filling into the pie shell. Brush the rim of the dough with egg wash.
- Roll our the remaining dough ⅛ inch thick and place it over the filling. Or with a pastry wheel, cut the shell into strips for a lattice topping. Crimp edges to seal.
- Bake at 425 degrees just until the crust is lightly browned. About 45 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack before serving.
Nutrition
Fresh Cherry Pie … It’s What’s For A Summer Dessert
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
I can’t wait to try your cherry pie recipe. I’ve never made one with real cherries, only the pie filling you buy. This looks delicious.
We made this recipe in Culinary School. It was the best cherry pie I’ve ever had.
Let me know how you like it.
Cherry pie is one of my favorite and yours looks beautiful. We had a few cherry trees in our orchard in New Hampshire and I’d always make at least one every year…cherry cobbler as well.
You know, my Mom made the best pie crust in the world. I have to tell you that as a Southern woman I’ve always felt a failure because I couldn’t make pie crust. I can do okay with the Vodka crust on the internet but it’s not that
wonderful flakey joy that once was available at most church picnics etc. I rely on Trader Joes or the beloved Marie Callendar when I make my Mom’s custard pie.
I’m on Weight Watchers at the moment, but I’ve decided that soon I’m going to make your crust. You didn’t tell us how many times you made it before you succeeded.
Thanks so much for your comment Jean. I too have grown up in the Church Picnic and supper arena and I totally agree with your assessment of the flakey joy that many times seems to be missing in the pie crusts today. Those events were full of those beautiful homemade pies. And most of those pies were made using Crisco instead of butter. And that’s what my mom used. I’ll be trying it again with Crisco very soon. And I’ve never made the Vodka version, but have a friend that swears by it. Please let me know how the butter method works for you.
As far as my success, I first made this recipe in the pastry kitchen at Culinary School. We watched one demonstration and then were instructed to make it ourselves. I had success the first time I made it, with only one mark-down. The end result was not perfectly even. It was somewhat thicker on one side. Even with that markdown, I was very proud of that pie crust.
We always add some shortening — usually lard — to the butter when we make pie crust. Seems it make it a bit more tender. Anyway, gorgeous stuff here! Pretty, and I’ll bet SO tasty. Thanks!
Great looking pie and I’m sure you are very pleased that you can now make one – I’d say your mom would be proud of you.