Beach House Baking and the Windswept Cherry Pie

I have a treat for you today.  I am sharing a recipe from this new cookbook Beach House Baking by Chef Lei Shishak.  Every now and then I find a cookbook I would like to cook my way through and this cookbook is one of those.  The recipes are perfect for summer and easy living.  Chef Shishak is a trained CIA pastry chef who created these recipes from her Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, California.

The fresh cherries just arrived at our grocery this week so I picked the "Windswept Cherry Pie," to bake for you today. 

Here is the Sweet Butter Crust made from scratch.  This is a wonderful flaky pastry dough that browns nicely in the oven.  This recipe is for a single pastry crust, for a two crust pie just double it.

Sweet Butter Crust

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

4 1/2 tablespoons ice cold water

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, and salt.  Add the cold cubed butter.  Mix on low to medium speed until butter is broken down to pea size, about 1 minute.  Add the cold water all at once and mix until the dough comes together, about 15 seconds.  Remove dough from the mixer and gently shape it into a disc with your hands.  You will be able to see bits of the butter in the dough.  Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.  Freeze for longer storage.  

Remove dough from the refrigerator.  Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick.  Place crust into a 9-inch pie plate.  Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate.  For a single pie crust use kitchen scissors to trim the dough leaving a 1/2-inch overhang.  Fold overhang over to be flush with the pie plate.  Flute as desired.

Makes a one 9-inch crust.

Windswept Cherry Pie

1 Sweet Butter Crust

1 cup cherry cola

2 pounds dark cherries

2 tablespoons cornstarch

6 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Make 1 Sweet Butter Crust.  Roll out the dough over a 9-inch pie dish and crimp the edges.  Poke holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork.  Place in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Filling:  In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the cherry cola to a medium boil. Continue cooking the cola until it is reduced by half.  Let the cola cool in refrigerator while you pit the cherries.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the reduce cola, cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over low-medium heat whisking continuously.  Add the pitted cherries and continue cooking until mixture is thickened and shiny, about two minutes.  Transfer to a clean bowl and fold in the almond extract.  Set aside while you make the oat topping.

Almond Streusel Topping

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Make almond Streusel:  Mix together the flour oats, brown sugar, and almonds in a medium bowl.  Add the butter and toss the entire mixture gently with your hands until the butter is incorporated.  The mixture will resemble loose cookie dough. 

Remove the prepared pie crust from the refrigerator.  Pour the cherry filling into the shell. Sprinkle the streusel over the filling.  Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until the filling bubbles and streusel is golden brown.  Let cool completely before serving.

I omitted the sliced almonds in the streusel topping, my family doesn't like the nuts in most baked goods.  The pie turned out beautifully!  The family enjoyed it and many had seconds.

Here I garnished it with a teaspoon of whip cream a dark cherry.  

So for tea today a treat of Windswept Cherry Pie with fresh cherries.  The teacup and the starfish shaped serving plate are by Blue Sky.  

Recipes reprinted with permission from Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

A copy of this cookbook was provided to me for this review.

Beach House Baking is available now from Skyhorse Publishing. 

  Sherry

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