Baking a pie could seem like a mission impossible for starters, but this recipe would change your mind.
















I made my cherry pie based on a recipe from Inspired Taste. The main modifications I made were the fact I used pie crust mix instead of making my own crust from scratch, and I didn't use just canned cherry fillings. Also, I didn't use a 9-inch glass baking pan like usual. I used an approximately 7-inch ceramic bowl instead because I learned that whenever the box said can make two 9-inch crusts, it's a big fat LIE.

Let's begin!

Ingredients for a 7-inch Cherry Pie

1 pack of Jiffy pie crust mix
1/2 can of cherry filling (about 1 1/2 cup)
1-2 cups of pitted fresh cherries
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 egg yolk (for the crust while baking)
1 tablespoon of cold unsalted butter, cut in small squares
Some flour to roll the pie dough
Additional sugar to top the pie
1 tablespoon of cream (didn't use in this post, but definitely recommended)

Directions

Prepare filling
Pit your cherries with a pitter or chopstick. Try to avoid using firm cherries because it's harder to pit them.

Heat up a pan, cook your pitted cherries for a few minutes to get the juice out. Turn the heat off and transfer the cooked cherries to a bowl. Pour pre-made cherry filling into the bowl and add sugar into the mixture. Stir the mixture evenly.

Roll out your pie dough
Follow the direction on the crust mix box. After you have formed a dough ball, refrigerate it for 20 minutes (I didn't because I didn't have time). After 20 minutes, evenly cut the ball into half then shape them into balls again. Flour an empty surface and start rolling out each ball with a rolling pin. Roll out the dough as much as you can.

Putting things together
Apply some cooking spray to the baking bowl to prevent further sticking. Apply your first crust to the bowl gently. Spoon in your cherry mixture into pie crust. Evenly distribute your small squares of butter on top of the cherry mixture.

Put your second pie crust on top of everything. Trim excessive pie edges. Fold edges of top crust underneath edges of bottom crust, press the edge to seal it.

Baking the pie
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Mix egg yolk and cream together and brush it over the top crust. Sprinkle some sugar, then cut 4-5 slits in top of pie.

I did a super bad job in sealing the edges. I strongly urge you to watch some videos about the process before trying it yourself :)

Put the pie on a cookie sheet and bake it for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden.

Let your finished pie cool for at least 2 hours before cutting.

Result
My crust didn't end up being golden all the way through (I think it's because I skipped brushing with cream), but it's surely flaky. It tasted a little dry indeed, maybe more butter would help? That's left for Jiffy to decide.

Why use half pre-made cherry filling and half fresh cherries? It saves time and still ends up being delicious!



Who wants a slice?  

Notes and tips

• If you do want to make 9-inch pie, use 1 1/2 - 2 boxes of the so called 2-pie crust mix. The Betty Crocker mix I used last time for a 9-inch failed miserably; I only got to roll out 1 1/2 crusts and I had to make another crust from scratch
• Don't over flour the surface when you're rolling the pie dough
• Take a look at some crust folding videos to learn more about the folding procedure 
• Always taste your cherry mixture to make adequate adjustments to sugar level