Mini Cherry Pie

First words I said when I took a bite of this? "F*** me, that's delicious!". I didn't even know that I liked cherry pie.

Poor boyfriend got dragged around the mall with me today. I was in the mood to window shop. Well, I was actually in the mood to shop but my wallet is pretty dry these days so instead I just bought boring stuff like soap and groceries...  until I got to the kitchenware store.  And I found tiny tart pans! Which I've been wanting for ages! And they were cheap! Can you tell I was excited about this? I still am. I bought a set of 4 non-stick mini-tart pans.   Boyfriend was of course, also enthused with this, as I had promised him if I ever got mini pie dishes I would make him pie more often, since my major complaint is that we never eat the whole pie, so I don't want to make it.

Mini tart pans in hand (or bag, as it were) - we hit the grocery store and I was inspired by a giant jar of Morello sweet pitted cherries.  And the absolute TINIEST tub of vanilla gelato in existence.  I bet that a fresh cherry pie would be absolutely delicious... but this is for those of you who like to make things out of season :)

Did you know they made ice cream tubs so tiny? Neither did I!

This pastry recipe can either be made well ahead and refrigerated (up to 8 hours), or you can follow the instructions below for a 'fast' pastry. If you're using your own pastry recipe, start at step 7.

Mini Cherry Pies
Makes 4 mini pies*
Pie Crust* (adapted from All Recipes)
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cubed
1/4 cup ice water
3/4 T white sugar
Pie Filling
2 cups (~500g) drained cherries from a jar
1 T cornflour
1 T sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon (~2 T)
1 vanilla bean pod (or 1/2 t vanilla extract)
2 small pats of butter
1-2 T milk
1 T sugar
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, to serve.

1. Mix flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the cubed butter and mix until combined, with a grainy texture.  Pastry can either be mixed with an electric beater or by slicing at the dough with two knives.  If you're really classy, you may even have a pastry blender tool, and you can use that too.
2. Add water in small portions (~1 T at a time), and mix until a dough starts to form.
3. Knead until combined in the bowl.
4. If making the pastry ahead, wrap the dough in saran wrap and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.  Otherwise, turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
5. Roll out the dough until 4-5mm thick, and cut circles just wider than the diameter of the top of the pie or tart tin. 
6. Fit the dough into four pie tins, pushing down to fit to the edges and sides. Roll leftover dough into a ball and cover in saran wrap. Put the pie tins and leftover dough into the freezer for 10-20 minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 190C/375F.
8. While the pastry is cooling, drain 2 cups cherries. I had a huge jar, so I kept the juice and added it back to the rest of the cherries, figuring I can always use more cherry juice another day.
9. Toss cherries into a bowl and add the corn flour, sugar and lemon juice.  The amount of sugar and lemon juice can be modified to suit your tastes and the type of cherries you are using.  If you have sour cherries, add more sugar. If you prefer a tart tart, use less sugar and more lemon.
10. Slice your vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape the vanilla bean out, or add vanilla extract (see below). Mix everything with a spoon and set aside.
11. Take the leftover dough out of the fridge and roll out once more. You can either cut circles and form solid tops for your pies, or (my preference) form a lattice crust.  There is a link below to some tips on lattice crusts.
12. Spoon filling into pie tins, you may have extra left over filling, I did. 
13. Drop two small pats of butter on top of each pie.
14. For a lattice crust, cut strips of pastry ~1/2" wide and lay on top of pie (see below).
15. In a small bowl, mix 1-2 T milk with 1-2 T sugar.
16. Brush top of pastry with milk and sugar mixture to glaze.*
17. Bake for 5 minutes at 190C/375F, then reduce temperature to 180C/350F for 25 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
18. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, whichever you prefer.

Hints, tips and tricks for making pie:

Fun tip - add 1-2 t kirsch or cherry liqueur to the filling for a lovely bit of extra flavour. And if you opt for whipped cream, try adding some kirsch or triple sec to the whipped cream. I'm also told vanilla bourbon whipped cream is brilliant on cherry pie.

* To make a full-sized pie, use this dough recipe. I ended up with a little leftover dough, probably enough to make another mini pie, but alas I only have 4 dishes.  Anyway, for a full sized pie dish, I would double the proportions for the filling, and increase the bake time. 10 minutes at the higher temperature and 35-40 minutes at the lower temperature.

*  Don't feel that you HAVE to use this pastry recipe. Use whatever makes you happy. In general, I would use the pre-made shortcrust pastry from the freezer section of the grocery store.  Today, however, when I went to pull some sheets of shortcrust from the freezer, I found they'd gotten freezer burn, and were broken into tiny pieces.  This led me to a race across the internet trying to figure out what kind of pastry is best made without needing to chill for a few hours.  This was my first time trying this recipe and I was SUPER happy with it. It was easy to make, and it turned out light, flaky and delicious.  This is maybe the 4th or 5th time I've ever made my own pastry though. So I bet there are better recipes out there, and I bet there are better methods, but if you're not sure what's going on in the pastry department, this recipe is a great place to start.

For some tips on scraping vanilla pods, check out this video. It's a bit finicky, but the flavour difference is well worth it:

There are a million and one ways to top a pie, from stars and hearts to a traditional double crust and finally the lattice. With mini pies, the lattice is pretty straightforward and intuitive, but for tips, check out this slideshow from Bon Appetit, or these step-by-step instructions from Simply Recipes.

And my final comment, is about the glaze. A lot of people recommend using an egg white instead of milk and sugar to brush the top of the pastry. That's all personal preference.  You'll get a shinier finish with egg, but it doesn't affect the taste, so don't sweat about it. I just don't ever know what to do with that leftover egg yolk.

Oh wait, one more. I like butter in my pastry, but shortening, especially vegetable shortening, also makes a fab pastry. And then you've got vegan pie. (ok, the ice cream also is non-vegan, but hey I bet you can find some at a specialty store).