Description
Cherry lovers rejoice! Mini Cherry Pie elevates classic dessert with bite-sized charm. Flaky pastry cradles sweet-tart filling, promising pure delight in each delectable morsel that captures summer’s essence perfectly.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients:
- 2 cups (300g) pitted cherries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 ¼ cups (155g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (115g) unsalted butter, cold and diced
Sweeteners and Flavor Enhancers:
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional, for extra flavor)
- Coarse sugar (optional, for sprinkling)
Binding and Finishing Ingredients:
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 34 tablespoons ice water
- 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
Instructions
- Sift the flour and salt together in a spacious mixing vessel, ensuring even distribution of dry ingredients.
- Introduce chilled, cubed butter into the flour mixture, utilizing a pastry blender or nimble fingertips to create a textural landscape resembling rough, pebbly crumbs.
- Incorporate glacial water incrementally, gently folding and pressing until the dough coheres into a unified mass without overworking the delicate mixture.
- Compress the nascent pastry into a compact disk, envelop completely in transparent film, and nestle within the refrigerator’s cool embrace for a minimum of half an hour to relax the gluten and solidify the butter.
- After resting, transfer the chilled dough to a lightly floured surface, rolling with measured strokes to create a thin, even sheet that will form the foundation of your miniature cherry confection.
- Delicately drape the rolled pastry into petite pie vessels, trimming excess edges with precision and creating decorative crimped borders to contain the forthcoming fruity filling.
- Layer the prepared cherry mixture into the pastry shells, distributing the vibrant fruit with careful consideration to achieve balanced coverage.
- Craft a complementary top crust, either as a full cover with artful venting or as a lattice design that allows glimpses of the ruby-hued filling beneath.
- Brush the exposed pastry with a whisked egg wash to encourage a golden, luminous finish during baking.
- Position the assembled mini pies in a preheated oven, allowing the heat to transform the raw ingredients into a bubbling, aromatic delicacy with a perfectly crisp, flaky exterior.
Notes
- Chill butter thoroughly before cutting to ensure a flaky, tender crust that separates beautifully when baked.
- Work quickly and handle the dough minimally to prevent warming, which can make the crust tough and less delicate.
- For a gluten-free version, swap traditional flour with a cup-for-cup gluten-free blend that includes xanthan gum for better binding.
- Consider freezing prepared mini pies for up to a month, allowing you to have homemade desserts ready at a moment’s notice.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
- Calories: 239
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 65 mg
- Fat: 13 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 27 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 37 mg