The World Table

An interactive culinary compendium: recipes, lexicon and study

Michigan · Dessert

Michigan Cherry Pie

  • Intermediate
  • 1 h 30 m
  • roughly 2 of 4 for cost
  • Vegetarian

nutty-toasted · rich · bright Leads with toasted, nutty warmth throughout, richness that coats and comforts, with a clean, bright snap.

Ingredients

  • Pastry for a double-crust 23cm pie
  • 900g tart Montmorency cherries, pitted
  • 180g sugar
  • 4 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 egg, beaten

The skills inside

Egg wash & the baker’s shine

The words inside

Almond

Allergen screen

Found: gluten · dairy · egg · nuts

Screened for: gluten, dairy, egg, nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, molluscs, soy, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin, alcohol. Not screened: sulphites.

Screened by keyword from the ingredient list, not reviewed by a person; check every label for what the list cannot show.

Method

  1. Toss the cherries with the sugar, cornstarch, lemon, almond extract, and salt and let stand 15 min. 15 min
  2. Line the pie plate with pastry and fill with the cherries. Dot with butter.
  3. Lay a lattice top, brush with egg, and dust with sugar.
  4. Bake at 220C for 20 min, then 190C for 35-40 min until the juices bubble thickly through the lattice. 20 min
  5. Cool at least 4 hours so the filling sets. 240 min

How to tell it is going right

This dish has no standard of its own yet. It is judged on the technique it exercises: checked at the pan, while there is still something to be done about it.

Egg wash & the baker’s shine 34 recipes

  • Applied thin and even over every surface that will show, with no bare patches and no ridges or brush lines standing in it.
  • Nothing pooled: no wash run down into the seams, collected in the corners, or welded to the tray around the base.
  • It has not glued shut what needs to move: layers, scores, and cut edges are still free to open in the heat.
  • Baked, the finish is even and glossy across the whole piece and deep gold rather than patchy, with no darker bands where the wash sat heavy.
  • The shine is on the outside only: nothing inside the piece tastes of egg.

Where it goes wrong The wash went on heavy and ran into the scores and down to the tray, so the piece baked sealed along its seams, browned unevenly, and carries dark rubbery ridges where the egg collected.

At the Table

The Pour
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Also Right
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From the Taps
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Zero-Proof
Sparkling elderflower

Citrus desserts need a wine sweeter than they are, with acid enough to keep up: light, frothy, and low-proof wins.

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Film school

This dish, cooked on camera Search films of Michigan Cherry Pie Search YouTube: J. Kenji López-Alt on Michigan Cherry Pie A YouTube search for J. Kenji López-Alt and this dish. No affiliation.