Tart Cherry Pie Recipe from Achatz Handmade Pie Company

bon appétit magazine

In our October issue we listed the Top 10 Best Places for Pie in America. Get a taste of our picks as we break down these bakers' skills and publish pie recipes from each spot that would share their secrets. (Bakers are notorious for keeping pie recipes sacred.) By the end of this blog series, making pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving will seem like a piece of...pie?

First up is Achatz Handmade Pie Company in Armada, Michigan. In Chicago, Alinea chef Grant Achatz serves pies from this outfit (run by his second cousin Dave and Dave's wife, Wendy) at staff meals. Judges at the National Pie Championships awarded their cherry and Michigan Four Berry pies top honors--and we've got the recipe for the cherry pie! Get it after the jump.

Michigan Tart Cherry Pie
by the Achatz Handmade Pie Company
Makes 1 9- or 10-inch pie

**Note: This recipe has not been tested in or styled by the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen.**

Michigan grows 80-90% of the world's tart cherries. Studies done at MSU show that properties in the tart cherry help relieve pain from arthritis and gout.

INGREDIENTS

Pie dough (makes top and bottom crust for one pie)
2 1/2 cups pastry flour, unbleached
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup shortening, room temperature (or you can use 1/2 cup butter and a 1/2 cup shortening)
1/2 cup chilled water

Cherry filling
5 1/2 cups tart cherries
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca granules
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Topping
1 tablespoon sugar

PREPARATION

Pie dough
Mix the first three ingredients. Then cut shortening into flour with fingers until crumbly, yet not too blended. Add water, and do not over-mix. The dough should be sticky. Cover with plastic wrap or wax paper and allow to set in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Cherry filling
Mix all of the ingredients.

To bake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When chilled, remove pie dough from the refrigerator.

Roll out bottom crust, fill with pie filling. Roll out top crust and fold into quarters. Vent with a knife while dough is in quarters to make a pretty design. (Venting simply means cutting slits in the dough to allow steam to escape when the pie cooks.) Unfold crust over top of pie. Flute edges to seal. Cut off remaining dough hanging from the edges of pie. Spray top crust with cold water and sprinkle with sugar for browning.

Bake in center of oven at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until golden brown. Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment to catch drippings. Place this sheet on bottom rack; to avoid smoking do not put this sheet directly on bottom of oven.

A good way to test for doneness: The thickened juices should have been bubbling out from vents and/or edges of pies for about 10-15 minutes.

GET THE RECIPE: Michigan Tart Cherry Pie (click to get a printer-friendly PDF of the recipe)

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