| Kissed-With Almonds Cherry Pie |
| Filling: 1-1/2 cups sugar 2 dashes salt 1/4 cup cornstarch 4 cups pitted sour cherries (thawed if frozen, retain juice) 1/2 cup sour cherry juice 2 Tbsp. butter 2 drops red food coloring - if desired 2 Tbsp. cherry preserves 1/4 tsp. almond extract 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract Crust: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 2/3 cups (Crisco) shortening, plain 4 Tbsp. salted butter 1/4 cup ice water 1/3 cup blanched almonds ground fine with 1 Tbsp. sugar (use blender or food processor) 1 to 2 tsp. milk Filling: In a saucepan, combine sugar, salt and cornstarch. Add cherries and juice; bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add butter, food coloring, preserves and extracts. Set aside; cool to room temp. Crust: Put flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in shortening and butter until mixture is crumbly. Slowly add enough water to bind together ingredients. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, forming into a disc shape. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes (or up to 3 days, but be sure to bring to room temp. gefore roling). Divide dough in half. Roll on floured surface. Place in 9-inch pie pan and trim even with edge. Roll out second half of dough. On botton crust, spread ground almonds, reserving 2 Tbls. Add filling. Place top crust or lattice stripes over filling. flute edge with thumb and forfinger. Brush dough with a little milk; sprinkle with remaining ground almonds. Bake in lower third of preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; bake additional 30 minutes. Hint: protect edge with foil collar; remove during last 15 minutes of baking. |