Ingredients for the dough:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed
Ingredients for the filling:
- 3 ounces almond paste, crumbled
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups pitted fresh cherries or thawed frozen cherries, drained
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon turbinado or raw sugar
Directions:
- To make the dough, stir together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into the flour with a fork or pastry blender until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the water. Blend with a fork until the dough comes together. If there’s flour on the bottom of the bowl, add more water a teaspoon at a time until you can gather the dough into a ball. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator to soften slightly while you make the filling.
- To make the filling, beat the almond paste and sugar in a stand mixer until it breaks into small pieces. Beat in the butter until creamy, then add the egg, almond extract and milk. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter until just blended. Set aside.
- Smack the dough with a rolling pin to flatten. Unwrap the dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with more flour. Roll the dough firmly away from you, turning the dough a quarter after each roll to form a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Fold the dough gently over the rolling pin and transfer to a 9-inch pie pan. Press the dough into the pan and up the sides, trimming off the excess on the edges.
- Scrape the filling into the pan. Arrange the cherries in a layer over the filling, and sprinkle the top with the almonds and sugar. Bake about 25 minutes, or until lightly golden and the filling is set. Cool the pie on a rack before serving.
Makes 1 9-inch pie
