We have a giant cherry tree next to our house. In the 6 years that we have lived here, we have never harvested cherries off of it because all the good clusters were way up high and out of our reach. Monday evening, Brad and I ran out to the grocery store and when we got home he asked if I wanted to go harvest some cherries. I was thinking that we’d chop down a few of the lower branches and come in with a bowl full of cherries. I was wrong. I walk over and look at the tree, when suddenly Brad comes over with the giant pole cutter. His idea was to go after the limb that was about 10 feet long and 10 feet in the air.
The upper branches definitely had a lot more cherries, so many in fact that we came inside about 45 minutes later with 10 pounds of cherries!
Last might I decided to make a cherry pie. Pies are generally not my forte, they always end up soupy, probably because I usually use frozen fruit.
Fresh Cherry Pie
I used a pre-made pie crust (one of those that just rolls out) because I needed one less variable in making this pie work. If I can get a pie to turn out then I will move onto making my own crust.
- 5 cups pitted cherries (this is seriously the best cherry pitter)
- ⅔ cups sugar
- 5 Tablespoons flour
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Topping - 1 cup oats
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 Tablespoons butter (or butter alternative) - melted
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients. Make sure to get the flour mixed in well and all the cherries covered in the mixture.
- Put the pie crust into the pie pan (or in my case just roll it out)
- Fill the crust with the cherry mixture
- In another mixing bowl, combine the topping ingredients and stir until the butter is well integrated. Sprinkle over the cherries.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the crust is completely baked. If the edges start getting brown then cover with foil.
- Let cool and enjoy!
This pie is delicious! I can’t wait to see what else I can make with the cherries. Do you have any favorite cherry recipes?
