Presidents’ Day Munchies: Spicy Cherry Pie
George Washington’s cutting down the cherry tree and owning up to it might be a legend, but the fact remains that we still associate delicious sweet cherries with Presidents’ Day! I can’t prove it, but I’d bet that most if not all of our presidents enjoyed a slice of awesome cherry pie, as well.
Texas Pepper Jelly’s cherry pie is a bit different from the norm, and that difference makes our cherry pie absolutely the best you’ll ever taste in all of your life. No exaggeration, either.
I’m giving you the super-easy version here, although if you want to wait until cherries are in season, find a tree, climb it, gather the cherries, pit them, and THEN make your pie, feel free. For those of you who want your cherry pie NOW, here’s how to get one.
Ingredients:
3 cans cherry pie filling (I use the kind with Splenda)
1 cup Cherry Jalapeno (or Cherry Habanero) pepper jelly
Pat of butter
2-piece pie crust (Life is short. Go to the grocery store and buy one.)
What to do:
Preheat your oven to 450.
Put the bottom crust in the pie pan. In a medium bowl, mix together the cherry filling and the pepper jelly, and pour it over the bottom crust. Place the butter pat on top. Cover with top crust and crimp the edges firmly. I like to take a toothpick and dot-out a pine tree on my top crust, but as long as you make a vent, you can pierce any kind of design you want. Be creative, and make the same design for each cherry pie you make. Think of other designs for other kinds of pies. This way, your family will come to associate certain designs with certain pies. This isn’t a big deal; it’s just fun, and a way of personalizing your pies.
Sometimes I make a little hole in the middle of the top crust and put my “pie bird” there. Depends on my mood!
Place your pie in the middle of your oven, and set the timer for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, open the oven door and turn your pie around. Close the door and reduce the heat to 350. Set the timer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, check your pie. If the crust appears nice and brownish, it’s done. Pies with canned filling take much less time than pies with fresh fruit.
Remove pie from oven and let it cool; if you try to slice it now it’ll run all over the place.
Serve with ice cream. Don’t count on any leftover.
The sweetness of the cherries and the sweet-tartness of the pepper jelly combine to create a flavor that’s so good, it’s almost indescribable. Mmmmmmm, spicy cherry pie. . . .