Cherry Crumb Pie

Tomorrow at work as part of our “Office Olympics” we’re having a bake-off. I’m kind of known as the baker of our department, so I’ve heard that people are calling me the person to beat, and so I really need to bring out my best dish. So, for inspiration, I decided to look back through my archives to find something to bake. Imagine my surprise when I found that my “Baking” tag only had one entry. One? Me? Really? I bake all the time!

This totally needs to be remedied.

So, to start, I’ll share my recipe for cherry crumb pie. Aaron gets this pie once a year around the Fourth of July, because that’s about the peak of cherry season in Michigan. Let me just tell you, Michigan cherries are absolutely delicious and if you happen to be in Traverse City around this time, you’re in cherry heaven. A few years ago we were there for the 4^th, and brought back a bunch of cherries with us. I made this pie and Aaron fell in love. It’s at its best this time of year, so that’s why it’s a once-per-year treat. Any other time, it’s just not as good, so we only eat it when it’s at its best. My favorite way to serve this is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. I hope you love it as much as we do.

Cherry Crumb Pie

One recipe single layer 9-inch pie crust, or one purchased prepared crust

Filling:

1 Quart of sweet cherries, pitted and sliced in half (I do this all by hand, and Aaron appreciates it even more because of the amount of work involved in this undertaking)

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. tapioca

Topping:

¾ c. flour

½ c. brown sugar

3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

¼ tsp. salt

6 Tbsp. butter (unsalted – if you use salted, omit the salt in the recipe)

Place crust into pie plate. In a large bowl, mix together cherries, sugar, and tapioca. Pour into prepared crust.

Mix together the dry ingredients for the topping in a medium-sized bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingers, and work until the mixture is full of lumps about the size of small peas. Sprinkle this over the cherry mixture in the pie crust, spreading to edges and making sure coverage is fairly even. Bake at 375 degrees (F) for about 45 minutes, or until crust and topping are golden brown, and some of the pie filling starts to bubble through.