Sweet Cherry Pie

You know, I don’t like cherries. There was some fruit in Spain really close to cherries that I loved though. Man I wish I could find them.  Yesterday was Bryon’s birthday. These birthday’s never stop! Bryon wanted a cherry pie. Honestly, I’ve never made a cherry pie. And I realize that making a full pie, may go to waste over time. So I wanted something more… number friendly I suppose.

Mini Cherry Pie Tarts

I didn’t try any of these, but my friend Byron did. He said they are good. So I’ll take is word for it.

Ingredients

1 can canned cherry pie filling (you can use frozen or fresh cherries too. Just heat them on the stove top instead and let the juices come out)

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 pastry sheets or frozen pie crusts that you can roll out

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 tbs melted butter

1 teaspoon salt

I really went into all this blindly. I just added and cominded what I thought would actually taste good. Supposedly it is!

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 and grease a muffin tin.

In a bowl combine the cherries, making sure to get all the juice out of the can, butter, salt, cornstarch, and sugar. Stir well and then add the vanilla and stir again.

Let sit and in the meantime, make your mini tarts. Roll out your pastry sheet on a floured surface. I didn’t have flour, so I used cornstarch. Same thing, right? A 3-4 in circle cutter is best, but mine is a little smaller, so I ended up cutting them out of squares with my pastry wheel. Thinking back, I could have cut circles with that too. Hmm. Ohwell, for next time.

Cornstarch sticks to stuff much better. See?

It was only one hand print at first, but we all lost it cause it stood out so much, so more came.

Regaining your composure, stuff the muffin pans with your pastry circles.

Fill with cherry pie mixture. I used alllll of my juices. Fill these up full.

If you want to do a lattice top you can. I just did different checkered patterns to see what I’d like. I’d show you a tutorial on how to do it, but its hard to see on such a small piece. Maybe I’ll actually do a pie one day. If you don’t to a lattice top, and just want to cover it, make sure you make slits or cut a cute little shape out on the top piece.

This one is my favorite. It’s an up and under type of deal. Pick up the dough, place the strip under. Lay the dough down, place the strip on top.

Once you have your tops on, pinch them with the sides to form it all together. If it’s too dry, just your fingers in soem water and then pinch it.

Bake for 15 mins, or until the tops start turning brown and the filling is bubbling.

Take out quickly and make a foil dome ontop and stick back in oven for about 4 mins. No more than four really.

Once its finished sit on a wire rack to cool for 10 mins in pan and then take the tarts out and place on the rack.