Sour Cherry Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust

It dawned on me that this week marks the 5th anniversary of ¡Hola! Jalapeño. That’s 5 years worth of stories, over 400 recipes, thousands of photos, lots and lots of jalapeño peppers, and sooooo many lists (I make a lot of lists).

I started this blog right after we returned from my dear friend Beth’s wedding (which reminds me—Happy Anniversary Guys!!) We had just moved to our quiet rural North Dakota village from big noisy San Francisco and I honestly had no idea what to do with myself. I was plenty busy taking care of little one-year-old Louisa and navigating my new role as Stay-at-Home Mom but I missed cooking professionally and desperately needed a creative outlet.

So I sat down and wrote this pretty terrible blog post. That first year I wrote some stuff about motherhood and living in a small town and a couple of recipes, and then a few more recipes and then to my complete amazement people started reading it!

Over the five years I have made some really great things (Sweet Potato Nachos) and some maybe not so great things (ahem…Orzo and Ham, sorry about that one). I’ve also had another baby, bought a house, sent a child off to school and a lot of other scary, exciting things. And you guys have stuck with me through all of it.

What I’m trying to say in the most beat-around-the-bush-way possible is….THANK YOU!

Thank you so much for reading and commenting and cooking and commenting about what you’ve made. I cannot express my gratitude that you take the time out of your incredibly crazy busy life to share this little corner of the internet with me. I know there are a bazillion other food blogs out there but you choose to read this one and for that I am eternally grateful.

I’ve got some really exciting stuff happening in the next couple of months that I cannot wait to share with you but to celebrate here and now….I’ve made pie!

It is a pie I’ve been wanting to make for years—decades even. It is from the Mustard’s Grill cookbook  which has some real classics but the dessert chapter is especially killer. It is written by my dear friend Brigid Callinan and this girl knows a thing or two about sweet stuff.

Brigid didn’t know my grandfather but this recipe was written just for him. He always ate a slice of apple pie with an even thicker slice of cheddar cheese. The original recipe is simply made of apples but I adjusted it a little to include some of those tart cherries I brought back from our trip to Michigan. The cheddar cheese crust combined with the sour cherries and apples makes for one stellar pie—just the right mix of sweet and salt. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate not only the blog but the start of fall.

Hope you all have a great weekend—go out there and pick some apples!!

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Sour Cherry Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust

Yield: 8-10 Servings

Recipe Adapted from Mustard's Grill Napa Valley Cookbook Sour cherries can be hard to find. Some grocery stores will carry them frozen which is a bonus because they will already be pitted. You don't need to defrost them first, just add them to the pie frozen. If you can't find cherries you can make the pie with all apples, you will need about 8 large ones and try using a mixture of sour and sweet apples for best results.

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Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 6 tablespoons vegetable shortening, frozen and cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cups grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
• 6 to 7 tablespoons ice water

For the Filling:

• 5 large apples, peeled, halved, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 2 cups pitted sour cherries
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water
• Coarse sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

1. To make the crust, combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter and shortening and toss into the flour to coat. Cut the fat into the flour mixture with a pastry knife until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
2. Add cheese and stir to combine. Slowly drizzle ice water over the flour mixture a few tablespoons at a time and rub mixture together with your fingers, gently squeezing the liquid into the dough. Keep adding more water until the dough holds together but is not sticky.
3. Gather the dough into a ball, cut in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, or until firm enough to roll out. Dough can be made up to a day in advance.
4. To make the filling, combine apples, cherries, lemon juice, vanilla, sugar, salt, and flour in a large bowl. Stir until everything is thoroughly mixed.
5. Heat oven to 425°F and arrange rack in the bottom third. Place a baking sheet covered with foil on the rack to heat with the oven.
6. Remove one piece of dough from the refrigerator. Place on a lightly floured surface and roll dough into an 11-inch circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer dough to a 9-inch pie pan and press dough into pan. Trim the edges leaving about 1/2-inch of dough overhanging the sides.
7. Scrape the filling into the crust and dot the top with butter. Roll out the remaining dough to about 1/4-inch thickness and place on top of the filling. Trim the edges even with the bottom crust and press the two together to seal. Crimp the edge in a decorative pattern if you wish and place the pie in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
8. Whisk together the egg and water. Remove pie from freezer and cut 4 to 5 slits in the top or cut out a decorative pattern. Brush the top with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
9. Place pie on the heated baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Lower temperature to 375°F and bake for another 40-45 minutes or until top is brown and fruit is bubbly. Let sit for at least 1 hour before serving.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0g

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