This is my all-time favourite dessert to make at home, inspired by my American travels. The cherries have a decadent boozy flavour and it looks impressive (even though it's super easy to make with pre-made puff pastry!).
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS
1kg of frozen pitted cherries
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of raw sugar
2 heaped tbs corn starch powder
Juice of half a lemon
3 sheets of frozen pre-made puff pastry
1 egg beaten with 1 tbs milk
Raw sugar to sprinkle
METHOD
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Take out frozen pastry sheets and let them thaw for about 15 minutes.
Place cherries, water, corn starch, sugar and lemon juice in a large pot and cook on the stove top on low-medium heat, stirring continuously for about 10 minutes until you get a thick syrup consistency. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
Roll out one pastry sheet and then carefully place into a pie dish (24cm diameter), gently pushing out any pockets of air and smoothing any folds. Trim excess pastry hanging over the edges and save for later.
Using a pastry brush or your fingers, wash the fitted pastry sheet with a thin layer of the egg mixture.
Roll out the second pastry sheet and repeat step 3.
Once the cherry mixture is relatively cool, pour it into the pie dish. Brush the edges of the dish with more egg mixture.
Roll out the third pastry sheet as well as the excess sheet trimmings. Cut into long strips (about 2cm wide) and create a lattice across the top of the piece.
Gently press the circumference of the pie with your fingers and/or a fork. Brush some egg wash over the lattice surface and pie edge. Sprinkle with some raw sugar.
Bake the pie for 20 minutes. Then, rotate the pie, lower the heat to 180C and cook for a further 30 minutes.
Let the pie cool for 45-60 minutes. Enjoy with a side of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or custard!