When making the lattice crust, a pizza cutter is used to make the strips. If you're worried about making straight lines, just use a ruler. Otherwise free-hand it like I did. It's all about weaving the strips, it's really easy and it doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, the more rustic looking the better.
I made a butter crust for the pie dough. Butter crust must be chilled before it is rolled out, don't skip this step. There are reasons to chill the dough that make a difference in the final crust.
Cinnamon-Clove Fresh Cherry Pie
Created by Cathy Pollak for NoblePig.com | Serves: One 9-inch pie
Ingredients:
Flaky Butter Crust Pie Dough:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold butter, diced
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup iced water (you might not use all of it)
Pie Filling:
2 lbs fresh, sweet pitted cherries (such as Bing)
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Directions:
Place all ingredients for the pie filling in a large bowl and gently combine. Set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, add flour, butter and salt. Process for about 30 seconds and with the machine still running, begin adding water through the feed tube, about 1 Tablespoon at a time. Stop adding water once dough comes together in a ball. Divide the dough in half and form 2 flat discs. Wrap each with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1-4 hours.
Remove dough from the fridge and place on a lightly floured cutting board. Roll out one disc of dough to fit a 9" pie dish and line your dish with it (not deep dish). Let your dough hang over the edges about 1/2 an inch. Roll out second disc to the same size as the first. Using a pizza cutter, cut even, 1/2-inch strips of dough, you'll need about 10-12.
Because I didn't take step-by-step pictures of making the lattice crust, I am going to send you to the link (http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_a_lattice_top_for_a_pie_crust/) of a good friend who has an amazing picture tutorial. It's really easy to follow. (You can find the hyperlink below.)
Once dough is weaved, bake pie in the oven at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes. Turn down heat to 375 F and bake for another 40 minutes or until crust is slightly golden and juices are bubbling.
Let cool completely before serving with vanilla ice cream.
- Recipe courtesy of Cathy Pollak