Recipe Courtesy of Cooking.com.
This lovely combination is a real winner. The sweet-tart cherry-apricot filling pairs beautifully with the rich streusel topping that gets its unique flavor from almond paste.
Nutrition Facts
8 servings
Facts per Serving
Calories: 794 Fat, Total: 36g Carbohydrates, Total: 115g
Cholesterol: 47mg Sodium: 326mg Protein: 8g
Fiber: 5g % Cal. from Fat: 41% % Cal. from Carbs: 58%
Cooking.com Tip: What makes this pie extra tasty is just-ripened fruit, like fresh apricots and Bing cherries. In some areas you can pick them yourself at local cherry farms and bring home as many as you can carry. To make sure you get all the juice and flavor, you’ll want to remove the pits using a cherry pitter. This will also make the process quick and painless – a thumb rest makes it comfortable to press down repeatedly — especially when you pit large quantities in one sitting. It also works well for pitting olives and dates.
Ingredients
- FOR STREUSEL: 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup crumbled almond paste (about 2 3/4 ounces)
- 1/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- FOR FILLING: 1 cup sugar
- 4 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pound Bing cherries, stemmed, pitted, halved (about 2 1/4 cups)
- 1 pound ripe apricots (about 6 medium-large), halved, pitted, each half cut into 4 wedges (about 3 cups)
- 1/2 cup apricot preserves
- TENDER PIE CRUST: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup frozen vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 5 tablespoons (or more) ice water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream (optional)
Preparation
- 1 FOR STREUSEL: Whisk flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to blend in medium bowl. Add almond paste and butter. Rub in with fingertips until mixture begins to clump together. Add almonds and work in with fingertips until well incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)
- 2 FOR FILLING: Line baking sheet with foil; place in bottom of oven. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375ºF. Whisk sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon in large bowl to blend well. Add cherries, apricots and apricot preserves and toss to blend well with sugar mixture. Let stand until juices form, about 20 minutes.
- 3 THE PERFECT TENDER PIE CRUST: Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix 5 tablespoons ice water and vanilla in small bowl; add to processor and blend using on/off turns until mixture begins to form moist clumps, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry.
- 4 Gather dough into 2 balls. Flatten each into disk; wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Soften dough slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
- 5 TO ASSEMBLE: Roll out 1 pie crust disk on generously floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fold crust edges under and crimp edges decoratively, forming high standing rim 1/2 to- 3/4-inch above sides of dish. Spoon filling into crust.
- 6 Bake pie 30 minutes. Cover edges with foil collar to prevent overbrowning. Bake pie until filling just begins to bubble at edges, about 15 minutes longer. Sprinkle streusel over top of pie. Continue to bake until crust and streusel are deep golden brown and filling bubbles thickly in center, about 45 minutes longer. Transfer to rack and cool at least 2 hours. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream, if desired. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)
- 7 FOR A PRE-BAKED PIE CRUST: Line the pie dish with crust; crimp edges and bake at 375ºF. until golden and baked through and piercing crust in a few places with fork if crust bubbles, about 30 minutes. Cool and then fill with your choice of already prepared fillings, such as mousses, cream fillings, or lemon curd.
