Cherry Pie in an Oil Crust?

[BakerAunt]

My husband has requested a cherry pie for New Year's dessert. I checked the pantry, and I have three jars of Morello cherries (not from Trader Joe's but from Aldi's), so I have the ingredients. When I baked the pie in the past, I used the Baking Illustrated recipe (pp. 194-195), and it is delicious.

What I'm not sure about is how to proceed with my oil crust. For fruit pies, I always blind bake the crust for 15 minutes initially, so that it won't be soggy, and I heat up the filling--apple or blueberries--and add it the blind baked crust after first sprinkling a little bit of panko on the bottom to absorb excess juice. Those pies have a streusel topping.

I have never tried to do an oil pastry top crust, because the pastry is fragile if it is refrigerated and cannot be manipulated after coming out. If I do a top crust, I would probably need to make it right before I needed to top the pie.

So, has anyone tried an oil top crust for pie? I could use a streusel topping, and I have a cherry pie recipe that uses one. Any suggestions are appreciated!

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[Mike Nolan]

I'd probably go with a streusel topping, you might be able to put on a fairly continuous layer of oil crust but it probably won't hold together enough to transfer.

I wonder what would happen if you rolled it out, froze it long enough for it to firm up and then tried to transfer it?

I didn't do a lattice crust on the last cherry pie I made, at my wife's request. (It was for her birthday.)

[RiversideLen]

I've done it but it usually isn't pretty. I would roll it out in between 2 sheets of wax paper, remove the top sheet and then take it to the pie with the bottom sheet and then flip in onto the pie and hope my aim is good. Removing the bottom sheet of wax paper is a little tricky. I like Mike's idea about freezing it first.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Mike and Len. The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to use a streusel crust. Even if I could slightly freeze then put the top over the pie, I would likely have difficulty attaching it around the edges to the bottom crust, and it might become soggy into the pie on the top.

I make the pie filling without spices, but I do use a bit of almond extract. I'm thinking that a streusel without spices, as I do not want to cover the flavor of the cherries. I'm wondering about using some almond flour in the streusel. I have a bit in the freezer that should be used.

I think that I will riff off of my blueberry pie recipe that has a streusel crust.

[skeptic7]

I do a top oil based pie crust all the time. It is fragile, but I roll it out between sheets of wax paper. Sometimes I used extra sheets going cross ways for more support. I roll it out flipping occasionally and removing and replacing the wax paper to prevent wrinkles. When its the right size, I loosen the top wax paper layer, flip it, remove the now top wax paper layer and take it to the pie and very carefully place it on top.
I can patch the edges if needed but not move the pie crust once its placed. The rim is never pretty but I can roll the excess pastry from top and bottom together and pinch them for a seal. It just won't make a pretty rim as the pastry isn't flexible enough.
I do apple pies with both a top and bottom crust all the time. I also do chicken pot pies with just a top crust but since the crust is much thicker and the the pie smaller its easier to manipulate.

[cwcdesign]

When I made the mini cherry pies for my mom's birthday, I didn't do a top crust - I just put cutouts on each one - just another thought

[BakerAunt]

If I were doing mini-pies, that would work. I'll file the idea away for when I do make them. Thanks, CWCdesign.

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