Gaga Cherry Pie

Summer has just arrived in France, and despite all of the grey, wet weather that has come with it, the cherry trees are being deliciously contrary and still given me loads of branches bending to breaking-point with fat, blood-red cherries.

What more inspiration could I need?

Not much it turns out, only the vaguely subliminal cherry messages that I've discovered on practically every Lady Gaga song I've been listening to of late (OK yes I did buy the album, and I do listen to it non stop, ie. in the bath, when getting dressed, when doing exercise bike, when cooking).

So here is to American cherry pies, to Lady Gaga, and to rebellious cherry trees giving me hope when it snowed in Spring and hailed in Summer.

GAGA Cherry Pie

Ingredients-

Crust-

2 1/2 cups of regular flour

1 tablespoons of sugar

3/4 teaspoons of salt

1 cup of unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes

5 tablespoons (and possibly more) of water, chilled

Filling-

1 cup and one tablespoon of castor sugar

3 tablespoons of cornflour

1/4 teaspoon of salt

5 cups of cherries, pitted

3 tablespoons of lemon juice (less if you are using naturally sour cherries)

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 teaspoon of unsalted butter

1 tablespoon of milk

Method-

Crust-

In a large bow, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the butter, and begin to rub in between fingers, until the two come together and resemble crumbs (this takes a bit of time and effort but don't give up!).

Add the water, little by little, and knead a little to make the dough form properly (ie. uniform colour, no lumps etc.)

Gather the dough together and divide into 2 balls, then flatten into discs, wrap in plastic-wrap and pop them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Note that dough can be made two days in advance and stored this way.

When ready to assemble the pie, leave the dough for 5 minutes to soften slightly (but not too much because that makes it harder) and roll out one disc with a pin and place in a 30cm pie dish (preferably glass). Bake the pastry shell (with loading if you are that way inclined) for 10 or so minutes then remove to fill.

Filling-

Preheat oven to 180°C.

In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients except for 1 tablespoon of castor sugar (kept for the top). Stir in the cherries, vanilla essence and lemon juice then set aside.

Fill the pre-baked pie dough with above mixture.

Roll out the second dough disc and cut into a pattern of your choice. For a classic look, cut the disc into long strips and lay over the filling. I chose to cut out hearts because I'm a lover and not a... lattice-er.

Before putting in the oven, brush the top (whether it be lattice or hearts) with the milk, and sprinkle with the saved tablespoon of castor sugar.

Bake for around an hour, depending on the strength of the oven, covering the top with foil if it starts to brown too much.