Cherry-Almond Pie

Ingredients for the dough:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 6 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

• 1/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed

Ingredients for the filling:

• 3 ounces almond paste, crumbled

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon almond extract

• 1/4 cup milk

• 1/4 cup flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 2 cups pitted fresh cherries or thawed frozen cherries, drained

• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds

• 1 tablespoon turbinado or raw sugar

Directions:

1. To make the dough, stir together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into the flour with a fork or pastry blender until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the water. Blend with a fork until the dough comes together. If there’s flour on the bottom of the bowl, add more water a teaspoon at a time until you can gather the dough into a ball. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
3. Take the dough out of the refrigerator to soften slightly while you make the filling.
4. To make the filling, beat the almond paste and sugar in a stand mixer until it breaks into small pieces. Beat in the butter until creamy, then add
the egg, almond extract and milk. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter until just blended. Set aside.
5. Smack the dough with a rolling pin to flatten. Unwrap the dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with more flour. Roll the dough firmly away from you, turning the dough a quarter after each roll to form a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Fold the dough gently over the rolling pin and transfer to a 9-inch pie pan. Press the dough into the pan and up the sides, trimming off the excess on the edges.
6. Scrape the filling into the pan. Arrange the cherries in a layer over the filling, and sprinkle the top with the almonds and sugar.
Bake about 25 minutes, or until lightly golden and the filling is set. Cool the pie on a rack before serving.

Makes 1 9-inch pie