Cherry Pie Filling Recipe

Author:

Feed the Cherry Addiction

Cherries were my favourite fruit when I lived in England, and I have really missed them since I moved to South America over a decade ago. Recently, cherries arrived at a reasonable price at a market I was visiting, and I before I knew it, I left with two kilos of them!

What do I do now? Could I possibly eat them all before they went bad? Maybe! I decided the best thing to do was to make a pie filling mix so we can enjoy them even when the cherry season is over. As I researched recipes, I realised that a common complaint is being able to taste the cornstarch in the mix. This is the recipe you’ve been looking for, no cornstarch/cornflour taste at all, just rich glossy cherries at their best. Enjoy!

So much easier with a fruit pitter
Lemonkerdz

Ingredients

6 cups pitted cherries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons butter

Cinnamon or Nutmeg Substitution

From the ingredients you could also substitute the vanilla extract for 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon or nutmeg.

Instructions

Place the pitted cherries in a heavy-based pan and pour the sugar over the fruit. Set the pan over low heat and stir in the sugar with the fruit. As the fruit starts to cook, they will release juices that will dissolve the sugar. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the cherries are softened but still hold their shape.
In a separate bowl mix the cornflour/corn starch and water together to make a milky liquid. Remove 1/2 cup of the hot fruit juices and mix in with the corn starch mixture. While the fruit is still boiling pour the corn starch mixture into the pan of cherries, stirring continuously as it thickens. You may need to raise the heat slightly as you continue stirring.
When thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla paste. While the fruit mixture is still hot, stir in the butter; this gives you a rich glossy mixture.
Now the choice is yours. Make a pie crust and use your mix straight away, store in jars in the refrigerator or put into a container to freeze for future use.

Add sugar to the freshly pitted cherries.
Lemonkerdz

Slowly boil until the sugar has dissolved.
Lemonkerdz

Useful Tool: Cherry Stone Pitter

Get yourself a cherry stone pitter it will make your preparation so much easier. If you don’t have a pitter, you can use a small pairing knife and cut around the cherry with the knife, twist the fruit in half, one half remains with the pip, cut it out with the tip of your paring knife.

Homemade cherry pie filling recipe
Lemonkerdz

Did You Know?

Turkey is still the world’s leading cherry-producing nation.
Red cherries contain melatonin, which helps to fight against harmful toxins. These fruits also contain a high level of antioxidants that are beneficial to the human body.
Canada holds a record for the biggest cherry pie. The pie weighed 18,000 kg (about 39,680 lbs)!