How to make cherry pie from scratch with a lightly sweetened filling of fresh (or frozen) cherries, vanilla and almond extract. It’s a Dream.
watch the video
Related: We also love this lattice crust blueberry pie.
How to make homemade cherry pie
This cherry pie recipe is so easy – all you have to do is mix, fill and bake. The hardest part is pitting the cherries. For that, you might want to buy a cherry pitter, or if you’re like us, cheat and use one of our suggestions below on how to pit cherries without a cherry pitter.
Combine cherries with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla and almond extracts and then stir. Roll out a pie crust (or use a store-bought one), fill it, and top with another crust. Bake and let cool. As simple as that.
To be honest, the hardest part is waiting for the cake to cool – you really want that Wait 2 to 3 hours before slicing the cake. We know – it’s torture!
Use sweet or sour cherries
As for the cherries, we like to use fresh cherries, but use thawed frozen or canned/jarred cherries if necessary. (See recipe below for notes on both options). Both sweet and tart cherries pair well with this cake. We usually use sweet cherries as it is almost impossible to find fresh sour cherries here. No matter which one you use, make sure you use it Check how sweet they are, then adjust the sugar accordingly. We love to serve each slice with freshly whipped cream, but ice cream would be divine.
How to pit cherries without a cherry pitter
We have a small kitchen. That means we only buy what we need on a weekly basis, and while we’d love to eat a piece of that cherry pie every night, that just can’t happen. So we don’t have a cherry stoner in the house. However, that didn’t stop us. We just looked around and found out Two ways to pit cherries without a cherry pitter.
Above you can see that we used a chopstick. We used the thicker round end to pop the pit out of each cherry. The second option was to use a small piping tip. Place it on the work surface and press the cherry onto the top – the pit pops right out. Of both, we preferred the use of chopsticks. Both work, but the chopsticks were a little less dirty.
Easy Homemade Cherry Pie
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PREPARATION
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COOK
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IN TOTAL
Making cherry pie is easy – you just need a little patience when pitting the cherries. We promise it’s worth it. You can use sweet cherries, tart cherries, or a combination of both. However, remember to reduce or increase the sugar content depending on your choice.
However, you can purchase a cherry stoner. If you don’t have one, try using the thicker, rounded end of a chopstick to pop the pits out of the center of each cherry. Another option is to squeeze each cherry onto a piping tip. The amount of sugar for this recipe will vary depending on how sweet your cherries are. Add to your taste. We like to use fresh cherries for this, but you can also use canned cherries (see note below).
A 9 inch cake, about 8 servings
Watch as we prepare the recipe
you will need
Chilled pie crust for the top and bottom 9-inch cakes (see our pie crust recipe)
4 1/2 cups pitted fresh cherries, see note if using frozen or canned (2 1/2 pounds, without pits)
1/4 cup (30 grams) cornstarch
2/3 to 3/4 cup (135 to 150 grams) sugar, adjusted for sweetness of cherries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cold, unsalted butter, cut into small squares
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon cream or whipped cream
Additional sugar for sprinkling the crust (coarse sugar is a good option)
directions
- make filling
1Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon juice, and salt, then add the cherries. Stir gently to combine. Put aside.
- Prepare and fill the crust
1Take half of the dough out of the fridge and let it stand at room temperature for five minutes.
2On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 13 inch (1/8 inch thick) thick circle. (Check occasionally if the dough is sticking to the surface – add a small amount of flour if necessary.)
3Check the size by inverting the cake pan and lifting it over the circle of dough. Leave a 1 inch border around the cake pan. Then carefully pour the dough into the mold.
4Pour the cherry pie filling into the pie crust. Discard most of the liquid that has collected at the bottom of the bowl. Brush the filling with small squares of cold butter.
- top cake
1Roll out the second half of the dough and place the cake on top. Using a knife or kitchen scissors, trim the dough to within 3/4 inch of the edge of the pan.
2Fold the edges of the top crust under the edges of the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal, leaving a thicker 1/4-inch rim that rests on the rim of the pan.
3Crimp the edges by pressing the index finger of one hand against the edge of the dough from the inside of the pan while gently pressing on the outside with two knuckles of the other hand. (See photo, we know that was wordy – you can also watch us do it in our pie crust recipe video).
4Refrigerate the dough for at least 20 minutes or freeze for 5 minutes before baking.
- bake a cake
1Before baking the cake, wash the egg by whisking the yolk and cream together in a small bowl.
2Brush over the top crust with a pastry brush. Then sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar. Cut three to four slits on top of cake.
3Place the pie pan on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper to catch any juice that overflows as it bakes.
4Bake in the preheated oven (200°C) for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 170°C and bake an additional 30 to 40 minutes longer, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is thick and bubbly.
5Allow the cake to cool for at least two, preferably three, hours before slicing to allow the filling to set in the middle.
Adam and Joanne’s tips
- For Canned Cherries: Use 4 cups canned or bottled cherries, drain and add to the cherry filling with about 1/3 cup cherry juice.
- For Frozen Cherries: Use 4 cups of thawed cherries, drain and add to the cherry filling with about 1/3 cup of cherry juice.
- Nutritional Information: The nutritional information below is an estimate. We used the USDA Supertracker Recipe Calculator to calculate approximate values.
If you make this recipe, take a picture and tag it with the hashtag #inspiredtaste – we love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutritional value per serving
serving size
1/8 of the cake
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calories
515
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protein
6g
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carbohydrate
66g
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fiber
3g
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total sugar
30g
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total fat
26g
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Saturated Fatty Acids
17g
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cholesterol
91 mg
Recipe updated, originally posted May 2013. Since posting in 2013 we have tweaked the recipe to make it clearer and added a short recipe video. – Adam and Joanne