Individual Sour Cherry Pies

As summer is rapidly coming to a close a little voice keeps reminding me to use the sour cherries I froze last year. Eek… They need to be used soon.This summer I have made sour cherry crisp 3 times, a sour cherry cake that was kind of a flop, 2 carrot cakes, a chocolate hazelnut brioche loaf, a rainbow cake, a pecan tart,  and a couple of sour cherry cakes with streusel topping. I needed to try something new.

I came across a recipe for individual sour cherry pies. I had sour cherries and I had some individual tart/pie pans I brought from Germany a couple of years ago. So it was time to inaugurate the pans!
For the pastry I was inspired by both Martha Stewart and America’s Test Kitchen. Thank you both.

This recipe called for:

Pastry:
2 1/2 Cups of all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon of Salt
1 Teaspoon of Whey Low sugar substitute
2 Sticks (1/2 pound) of cold butter – in pieces
1/4 cup plain Vodka
1/4 cup cold Water

Filling:
4 Cups of Frozen Sour Cherries (1 1/3 Pounds)
1 Cup of Whey Low sugar substitute
2 1/2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
Juice and Zest of 1/2 Lemon
1 Large Egg
2 Tablespoons Skim Milk (or regular milk or cream)

Individual Sour Cherry Pie

See all the details after the jump:
For the pastry I measured out the vodka & water and set them aside. I then measured out the flour, salt, and Whey Low into a medium mixing bowl. I cut up the butter into small pieces. Then used a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture until there were small piece of butter coated in the flour. I then added the vodka mixture and mixed with a fork until it came together.

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Flour, Salt & Whey Low

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Adding the Butter

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Cutting in the Butter

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Adding the Water & Vodka

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Bringing the Dough Together

I emptied the mixture on the counter and formed a ball. I cut the ball in half and wrapped each half in plastic and refrigerated them for an hour. I think this pastry is at it’s best when left overnight.

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – A Final Quick Knead

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Cutting the Dough in Half

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Dough Wrapped and Ready for the Freezer

While the pastry was chilling I ensured the sour cherries were pit free by cutting each partially frozen cherry in half. Once I was sure all pits were removed I placed the cherries, Whey Low, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest into a medium bowl and mixed them well. I placed the bowl in the fridge while I rolled out the pastry.

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Filling Ingredients

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Zesting and Juicing the Lemon

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Adding the Filling Ingredients to a Bowl

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Mixed Filling

I rolled out the pastry according to the directions and cut it into 6 pieces. I then fit the pieces in the pans. I did have to piece the pastry together to get everything to fit correctly. In the future I would split the dough into 6 pieces and rolled each one out individually. In the end everything looked fine.

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Dividing the Dough for the Bases

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Fitting the Dough to the Pan

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Final Adjustments

I split the filling between the 6 pans then rolled out the other ball of pastry. I cut 6 pieces and them fit them to the top each pan.

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Filling the individual Pies

I mixed the egg and cream together in a small bowl then brushed the top of each pie. The pies went onto a lined baking sheet. Then I cut a vent hole in each pie and let them rest in the fridge until the oven heated to 450. I should have cut the vent in the pies just before they went into the oven.

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Ready for the Oven

When the oven reached temperature I took the pies out of the fridge and brushed them again with the egg wash and popped them in the oven for 40 minutes.

When the pies came out of the oven I let them cool on their sheet on a rack for 30 minutes. After removing the pans I let everything cool for another hour or so.

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Just out of the Oven

Individual Sour Cherry Pie – Final Cooling

Turned out awesomely! If I do say so myself.

Cooks Notes:

• this might be the place to use a shortening or butter/shortening crust as the pans are small and the pastry would be in smaller pieces
• I would make 25% more filling to ensure the individual pies are crammed full of flavour!
• I have come up with my version of pie dough it can be found here