Because this is Picnic Month, Months of Edible Celebrations is holding an Online Picnic. In order to participate in the Picnic Game, each blogger chooses a letter and a dish that they will be bringing. Remember it's a virtual picnic. There are a few more letters left, so go to Months of Edible Celebrations and sign up.No big surprise, I have chosen the letter C. And to make it a double C, I have chosen to bring Chocolate Cherry Pie. The original recipe comes from Local Lemons, a great website. Recipe and photo reprinted with permission.
Ingredients for Chocolate Cherry Pie
One 9 inch pie dish
Crust:
1 ½ cups organic, all-purpose flour. If you can, put it in the fridge overnight.
14 tablespoons of unsalted butter, frozen or very cold. That’s 2 sticks, minus 2 tablespoons.
1 teaspoon of salt
½ cup finely ground honey graham crackers. Use a food processor and chop them until they are the consistency of flour.
1 cup of icy cold water
1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash.
Cherry filling:
2 ½ pounds of fresh cherries (about 2 pounds pitted)
½ cup agave nectar
4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
½ cup of shredded chocolate. Use mostly dark, with some milk chocolate mixed in, also chopped in a food processor.
The butter: Chop the butter into small cubes and place in the freezer while you prepare everything else.
The filling: Pit the cherries using a handy cherry-pitter and put them in a large bowl. This contraption also works very well for olives. Add the chopped chocolate, 4 tablespoons of flour and the agave nectar. Gently toss until the cherries are well coated.
Preheat your oven to 400F. Sift together the flour, salt and ground graham crackers. Add to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade. Make sure the cup of cold water is within reach. Add the frozen butter to the bowl and pulse. Add the water one tablespoon at a time until the dough looks like course breadcrumbs. Try not to add too much water or your dough will be soggy. The dough should not form a ball in the food processor–it should just come together when you pinch it with your fingers.
Remove the dough from the bowl and work it with your hands to form a ball. Divide it in half. Lightly flour your surface, rolling pin and hands, and roll out one half of the dough until it fits into a 9 inch pie dish. Carefully pick it up and place it in the dish, cutting off the overhang.
Fill the dough with the cherry mixture.
Roll out the second half of the dough and place it on top of the pie. Pinch the sides closed with your thumb and forefinger, and use a sharp knife to cut three vents into the top of the crust. Brush with the egg wash. Bake for 25 minutes in the middle of your oven. Lower the heat to 350F and bake for 25 more minutes.
This sounds simply DEEEE-vine!
ReplyDeleteThe chocolate/cherry combination is absolutely one of my favorites, though I do confess to NOT pitting the cherries for cobbler for all the years we had the most wonderful sour tee-nincey cherries on our trees Down South.
It was practically impossible, as they were so small, so everyone was given fair warning, and they considered it well worth the trouble and the risk. Though sometimes I DID cook them beforehand and run them through the chinois, thus making a sorta dumplings-in-sauce of the cobbler.
But this pie, now---that's a have-to-make on the list for next weekend.
I have the worst cherry pitter so I need to think about investing in a better pitter. This pie is such a good idea--like a chocolate cordial in a pie.
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