Cherry Pie

Crust Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Directions
Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour (the longer the better) so that they become thoroughly chilled. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter.

Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs.

Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate.

Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

Add filling to the pie.

Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Cut into strips for lattice and even get creative, like making a heart! Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_pie_crust/

Ingredients for filling
I really wanted to make the filling from scratch, but couldn't find tart cherries anywhere. Soooo, I used canned pie filling and added a few things.
1 can cherry pie filling
1 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp cheesecake pudding mix
1 tsp salt

Directions for filling
combine all ingredients and pour into shell!


Bake pie at 425 for 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown

This pie was delicious, especially the crust! I wouldn't change anything there. Flaky and tasty. The filling was tasty but the consistency was weird, probably because of the pudding mix. I think next time I would make cheesecake pudding and put it in the bottom of the pie, separate from the cherry part. I don't know, something different. We'll see. In any case, it was a pretty good turnout for Jeff's birthday "cake." :)