It’s surprising considering the abundance of cherries in England, that cherry pie is not (like in the USA) more popular. Cherries are expensive but delicious and make a lovely pie filling, serve with vegan custard or ice-cream.
This cherry pie recipe (Willow’s Kitchen) is super-simple to make, packed with fruits and sweetened with coconut sugar. To avoid palm oil, make your own pastry with vegan butter (like Flora, which has no palm oil).
This recipe has a homemade pastry base, or use a simpler recipe at the post above. The pitted cherries are then combined with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and vanilla.
If you eat a lot of cherries, it’s worth investing in a cherry stoner, which can also be used for to remove olive stones.
You simply add the cherry mix over one half of the rolled-out dough, then cover with the other half (after cutting it into strips and weaving into a lattice shape).
Chill the pie for half an hour (sprinkle on optional sugar) and bake until done. There won’t be many leftovers!
Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods including fruit pips and seed and fresh dough are unsafe near animal friends). Bin citrus scraps as acids could harm compost creatures. Same with rhubarb, tomato and allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives). It’s okay to put them in food waste bins (made into biogas).
For tinned foods, fully remove lids (put inside) or pop ring-pulls back over holes (and pinch top opening closed) before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
How to Buy & Store Cherries
Red cherries have a lighter flavour, but most interchange nicely in recipes. Look for ones with bright firm skin, and only wash them just before serving (they only keep a few days in the fridge). Look in farm shops for organic cherries with low food miles.
Firm cherries (skins taut, flesh springy) are best for no-cook toppings, oats, and salads. Soft cherries (wrinkled skins, lots of juice) are better cooked into compote, chia jam, or crumble filling.
Before you sweeten anything, taste a cherry. Some batches are sweet, others are sharp. If yours are tart, you’ve got easy fixes:
- Add a drizzle of maple syrup or agave to sauces and oats.
- Blend with a ripe banana for smoothies and bowls.
- Pair with vanilla or orange zest to soften the sharp edge.
How to pit, store, and freeze cherries
A cherry pitter is tidy, but you don’t need one. Push the stone out with a reusable straw, or use the blunt end of a chopstick while holding the cherry over a bowl.
Store pitted cherries in a sealed container lined with kitchen paper. Keep them in the fridge and try to use very ripe ones within 2 to 3 days.
For freezing, pit first, then spread cherries in a single layer on a tray. Freeze until firm, then tip into a bag or tub. Use frozen cherries straight from the freezer in smoothies, or thaw them for sauces and baking.
