Cherry Crumble Pie for Father's Day

 

Can she bake a cherry pie Billy boy, Billy boy?? 
Can she bake a cherry pie charming Billy?   
She can bake a cherry pie, 
quicker than you can wink an eye, 
but she's too young and cannot leave her mother!   

Familiar words from an old folk song coming from the early 1900's . . .  from an age when a woman's cooking prowess was one of the first things a man looked for when he was searching for a wife.

 

They do say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.   I am not sure how true that is, but I know my husband isn't complaining.  Especially when I bake him up treats such as this tasty Cherry Crumble Pie!  The Toddster is a big fan of pies!



I found some jars of morello cherries in the grocery store the other day and I snapped up a couple of them to make my man a homemade cherry pie for Father's Day!  I know we don't have a family, with there being just the two of us, but I think Todd would have made a fabulous dad and so I like to treat him on Father's Day just because . . . I think he's swell!



If you have never made a cherry pie using real cherries, you need to get with it.  You are missing truly out on one of the finer things in life!   And this cherry pie is really something special . . .



Tinned cherry pie filling is always sadly lacking in one of the things it should be stogged full of in my opinion . . . cherries!  There just aren't enough of them.  That's not the case with this filling.  It is jammed full of cherries and nicely flavored with a bit of lemon and almond . . .

 

It has a single crust on the bottom . . . which has the unique addition of ground almonds for even more almond flavor . . . and . . .



instead of a top crust, I cover it with a brown sugar, oat and almond crumble topping for even more flavor and a buttery almond crunch!

Altogether it is a cherry pie which puts a big smile on my Toddy boy's face and keeps him coming back for more. 

Go on . . . bake the man in your life a tasty cherry pie for Father's Day.   You know he deserves it!  (And you do too!)

 

*Cherry Crumble Pie*
Makes one 9 inch pie, or 8 servings

Printable Recipe

A delicious cherry pie with a filling made from scratch and baked in an almond pastry, topped with a delicious oat and almond crumble topping.

For the pastry:

1 cup plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup ground almonds (almond meal)

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

3 to 4 TBS cold water

For the filling: two 16 oz jars of pitted Morello cherries (sour)
1 1/2 cups of caster sugar
3 TBS cornflour (corn starch)
 2 TBS all plain flour pinch salt
10 drops red food coloring, optional
 1/8 tsp almond extract
1 TBS butter
 the finely grated zest of one un-waxed lemon

For the Crumble Topping:
2/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup soft light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup ground almonds (almond meal)
4 TBS cold butter
few drops almond extract



Drain the cherries, reserving the juice. Whisk the sugar, corn flour, plain flour and salt in a saucepan.  Whisk in 1/2 cup of the cherry juice.   Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture boils and thickens.   Cook, stirring for a further minute.   Add the almond, butter, lemon zest and food coloring if using.  Stir in the drained cherries and set aside to cool.

Whisk the flour, salt and almonds together in a bowl.  Drop in the vegetable shortening and cut it into the flour mixture using a pastry blender until the pieces are the size of small peas.   Using a fork, toss the mixture together with the water, until the flour mixture is all moistened and the mixture begins to form a ball, using only as much as you need to use.  Shape into a flat disc. 

Roll the disc out on a lightly floured surface which is large enough to line a 9 inch pie pan, leaving some overhang.   Trim it to 1 inch overhang all the way around, fold under and then crimp all around the edge as you like.  Set aside. Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.   Line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil. Measure the oats, flour, sugar, salt and almonds into a bowl for the topping.  Drop in the butter.  Rub it into the flour mixture until the mixture begins to clump, adding a few drops of almond extract.  You will have more than you need for this recipe, but it can be frozen for later use in a tightly covered container. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the cherries from the saucepan into the prepared pie crust.  Pour over only as much of the liquid as you need.  You should just barely see it through the cherries.   Sprinkle as much oat topping as desired over the top.  Place onto the lined baking sheet. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and crisp on the bottom and the crumble is crisp on top and the juices are bubbling through.   Allow to cool completely before serving.  Cut into wedges to serve.