Brienne of Tarth's Beer and Tart!!

For our weekly Game of Thrones watch party, we had 2 of our friends' birthdays to celebrate!! We decided to make cherry pie, and it was surprisingly easy (aside from pitting the cherries!), and definitely delicious. I'm glad we sent them home with leftovers, because I might be rolling around all cherry-shaped myself by now!

I googled "how to pit cherries" and came across some interesting tips, the best being, "if you're going to pit enough cherries for a pie, for Pete's sake, buy a cherry-pitter." I did NOT take that advice, and it wasn't the worst decision I've made, although it probably would've been worth the $10 to get one! The other tips were solidly ok - 1) Use a chopstick and push out the cherry pit. I tried this one time, and decided it was too dangerous and not for me!! 2) Use an icing tip, big end on a hard surface and pointed end up, and push the cherry on the tip to squeeze the pit out - that worked pretty well!! I hurt myself just a teeny bit (those icing tips are sharp!) but it worked for the most part. Some of the cherries were split in half and I just pulled the pit out that way, just do your best and it'll all taste the same in the end!!


Another note - don't dye your hair a reddish color and then mess about with cherry juice, your fingers will give away the hair dye, even if they're unrelated!!

Ingredients

Pie crust - double batch!! Use one for the base of the pie, and the other for a lattice top!
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 cups whole pitted sour cherries or dark sweet cherries (about 2 pounds whole unpitted cherries - I used ~2.5 pounds, or one bag, and it was perfect)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice if using sour cherries, or 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice if using dark sweet cherries (about 1.5 lemons for 3 Tbsp)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon (about) milk
Vanilla ice cream, if you like! (I like!!!)

How To

Make the pie crust according to the instructions on the link above
Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425°F. 
Mix 1 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt in small bowl to blend. I pitted the cherries inside a bowl so no juice would be lost, so stir the mix into the cherry bowl with lemon juice and extracts.
Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim dough overhang to 1/2 inch. Roll out second dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Using large knife or pastry wheel with fluted edge, cut ten 3/4-inch-wide strips from dough round. Transfer filling to dough-lined dish, mounding slightly in center. Arrange dough strips atop filling, forming lattice; trim dough strip overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold bottom crust up over ends of strips and crimp edges to seal. Brush lattice crust (not edges) with milk. Sprinkle lattice with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
Place pie on rimmed baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake pie until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown, covering edges with foil collar if browning too quickly, about 1 hour longer. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. 
Cut into wedges and serve with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!!!


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