Sour Cherry Pie

I almost squeeled with delight when I saw sour cherries at a farmers market out in Bedford, and happily picked a bunch up. After convincing myself that the bug I brought home with them just meant they were freshly-picked, I got to washing and pitting!! Yes, a cherry pitter is a very good investment (especially when you've gone through a season w/o one) :)


Sour cherries are slightly smaller and brighter than their sweet counterparts, and you'd certainly know if you accidentally popped one in your mouth! Like all of nature's bounty, cherries are great for you-- full of vitamins and minerals (potassium, Vit C, complex B Vit). Tart cherries are also particularly high in antioxidants, contain melatonin, and have been touted to have anti-inflammatory properties. (For more information try here, here or here)

It didn't take me long to settle on making a cherry pie with my gorgeous red rubies.

Sour Cherry Pie

Looks great, right? Yeah, that's about where it ended :( When I went to cut into it, I was met with a see of red. After draining out the liquid, I saw a soggy crust and was utterly defeated. We're talking Julie-style meltdown here. It wasn't pretty. Which reminds me, I have to thank Bakespace and Erin for the opportunity to attend an advanced screening of Julie and Julia! I had no idea Julia Child was such a character, but I loved the movie :) Erin wrote a fantastic review here, I urge you to check it out!


After scraping myself off the floor, I knew that the filling would still be delicious. Indeed, my Sour Cherry crisp was awesome :) As was the banana soft serve I finally tried with it!

Sour Cherry Crisp w/Banana Soft Serve

To finish off the sour cherries I had, I made 1 jar of Sour Cherry Jam that I can't wait to dig in to!

Sour Cherry Jam

Have you tried sour cherries? What's you're favorite thing to make with them? And to any bakers out there... any tips? (I was listening to Lynne Rossetto Kasper at the time, and ironically enough she said to prevent a soggy crust, prebake your crust. Prebake I did, and it did not help. I'm thinking the cherries were just too wet, even with patting them dry and adding 1/4c cornstarch to the mix...)