Cherry-Cream Cheese Hand Pies

After Memorial Day every year I must make two things: pie and ice cream.  Summer fruits are delicious on their own, but they're also so good inside of a pastry crust.  And even after baking the flavor of the fruit was fresh and maintained its shape, and it didn't turn into that cherry goop I hate in storebought pies.  The cream cheese mixture adds a nice sweetness and tang to the cherries.  I can see myself throwing these in the picnic basket all summer.

I was bummed at not posting last week, but look what I've had to distract me!  Nearly a year after losing my best buddy and the sweetest cat in the entire world, Baby, we found Shnooky a little brother.  We got Dalton,1½ years old, at the local shelter.  During the day he sleeps under the bed, but at night he's a furball of energy.  He loves chasing the laser pointer dot and cries if he loses sight of it, and he likes to sing at 2 a.m. when the world is asleep.  We're working on changing his name, and Joe is pushing for Gandalf the Grey because he waves his paws around like he's casting spells.  You'd think I'd love that, considering the name of this blog, right?  I'm not sure yet that Gandalf sounds cute enough for this fella.

I have a point to my digression.  I had done my baking prep, making the pie dough and quartering the cherries.  And since they were frozen cherries, I didn't have to wrestle with the pitter.  Then we got our new cat, plus my editor asked me to submit my next Boston Globe dining review a week earlier than we'd agreed on.  So no time for cherry pies.  The cherries stayed unspoiled in the freezer, as did half a batch of the pie dough.  For some dumb reason I didn't freeze both halves, so I substituted some storebought puff pastry sitting in my freezer and it worked great.  So when life gets busy, baking projects are salvageable!

Also, my next food review runs in The Boston Globe this Sunday, so check back here for the URL!

Update: This post made the Foodbuzz Top 9!

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Cherry Custard Pie

I think nothing says summer like homemade ice cream, peach pie, and cherry pie. I already made the first two this summer, so I had cherry pie on the brain. I like how this one is different, with the cherries sitting in a sweet custard and that flaky crust. This recipe's from Ken Haedrich's Pie, but I used Rose Levy Beranbaum's Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust, my all-time favorite pie dough recipe. Save your dough scraps to make the cute little cherry cutouts, and the leftover cream to whip for garnish.

This contraption is a cherry pitter. You could also use frozen, pitted cherries for convenience, especially out of season.


After rolling out, trim the ends to an even circle, and tuck under.


Shape the rolled-under edge into a scalloped crust.


Poking holes reduces puffing-up. I followed the instructions for resting and chilling, but there was still some crust shrinkage. Can't be helped sometimes, I guess.


After pouring in your custard -- which was so easy to throw together -- drop the cherries in one by one, trying to space them evenly. Plan enough time for the cooling and chilling before serving.

Cherry Custard Pie

From Ken Haedrich's Pie

1 recipe Basic Flaky Pie Pastry, Single Crust (See the cream cheese pie dough recipe I used here)

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

⅔ cup sugar

1 cup light cream or half-and-half

½ cup heavy or whipping cream

½ tsp vanilla extract

1½ tbs kirsch, Grand Marnier, or triple sec (optional)

Pinch of salt

One 15-ounce can pitted sweet cherries, drained, or 1½ cups fresh sweet cherries, stemmed and pitted

Prepare the pastry and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400°. On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the pastry into a 12-inch circle with a floured rolling pin. Invert the pastry over a 9-inch standard pie pan, center, and peel off the paper. Tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and sculpt the edge so it is slightly higher than the rim. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes, then partially prebake (Fit a sheet of foil into the pie pastry and pour in enough dried beans or other pie weights to fill to the top. Bake the pie shell on the center rack for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans and lower the temperature to 375°, then take a fork and prick the pastry all over the bottom. Bake the pie shell for another 10 to 12 minutes.) and let cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°.

Combine the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend briefly on medium speed. Add the light cream, heavy cream, vanilla, kirsch (if using), and salt and blend briefly. Slowly pour the filling into the cooled pie shell. One by one, gently drop the cherries into the filling, spacing them more or less evenly.

Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake until the custard is set, about 45 minutes. Rotate the pie 180 degrees halfway through the baking, so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. When done, the filling will jiggle -- not move in waves -- when you give the pie a little nudge.

Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool thoroughly. Cover with loosely tented aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight before serving.