It's hard to say which is better—a bagful of juicy, sweet cherries from Spring Valley orchard near Batesville or sampling a few of these late-spring fruits under the tree that bore them, atop a slope with a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains.
After opening for the season last Friday (a couple weeks earlier than usual), Spring Valley has welcomed a steady stream of stone-fruit lovers to pick their own cherries.
Last week, we made the pilgrimage and spent about a half hour collecting two bags of 'Summit' cherries—a red variety that is sufficiently sweet, but with a subtle tartness that makes them even more fun to eat. (A general tip for cherry picking: Leave stems attached so fruit will keep longer.)
We left the orchard with enough for two pies. But by the end of the car ride home, we had enough for only one pie...and a family of juice-stained chins. What a gloriously sticky mess it was.
Because of the relatively fleeting cherry season, there are just a few more weeks for pick-your-own at Spring Valley (owned by the same family that runs Chiles Peach Orchard and Carter Mountain Orchard). Sometimes the fun of picking cherries is that you wind up with much more than you can eat out of hand. The best solution? Pie, pie, and more pie. The one pictured here I made using a recipe adapted from Joy of Cooking. Here it is:
fresh cherry pie
crust:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, extremely cold and cut into small pieces
Ice water
filling:
5 cups cherries, rinsed and pitted
3/4 cup sugar (or less for really sweet cherries)
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1. First make crust: Mix together flour and salt to completely incorporate. Work in the butter using a pastry cutter or two knives (as if you're cutting up a big plate of spaghetti)—until the mixture has coarse crumbs. Add ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture just holds together to form a dough. Turn dough out onto floured surface; shape into a ball (without working the dough too much). Cut in half, and place each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. For filling: Mix together cherries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes, to allow juices to seep out.
3. Remove disks of dough from the refrigerator. Roll out one disk to about 1/4 inch thick. Place in a 9-inch pie pan, and adjust so it hugs the sides.
4. Pour filling into dough-lined pie plate. Top with the bits of butter.
5. Roll out second disk of dough to 1/4 inch thick; cut into strips. Wet the edges of the bottom crust, and lay the strips of dough over the filling in a lattice pattern. Put pie plate on a baking sheet, just to catch any drips as it bakes.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Rotate pie. Turn the heat down to 350 degrees and bake 25 to 35 minutes more, until crust is golden brown. (If the edges start to brown too fast, cover with an apron of foil.) Let cool before cutting. Serve plain, or with ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
