Love is in the Air

I wanted to make something for my husband and the wonderful crew I have at the Willetta restoration.  One of my husband’s favorite desserts is homemade cherry pie.  I did think about making a whole one but we’ve been trying to eat healthy since the first of the year and I knew a huge pie would be a bad, albeit delicious temptation for both of us.

So I decided to keep the theme but on a smaller scale.  In a previous post, I shared my favorite pie crust recipe–which is super easy to make (especially in a Cuisinart).  After letting the pie crust dough chill, I rolled it out and found the largest heart-shaped cookie cutter I had.

I added canned (partially groaning here) cherry pie filling.  Normally I like fresh cherries but they are not in season so sometimes you need to improvise.

I wet the edges of the heart with water and added another heart-shaped dough piece.  A small fork served as the perfect tool for sealing the edges.

Next, I brushed the surface with an egg wash (just scrambled an egg) and then pricked the dough for air vents.

Baking was a bit of a challenge because I wasn’t sure how long~~but I set the oven to 375 degrees and started at 10 minutes.  I kept adding time in increments of 3 minutes so my total cook time, in a convection oven, was approximately 20 minutes.  Depending on the size of your cutter, my pie crust dough recipe made 9  4″x4″ hearts.  Lastly, I sprinkled the tops with sugar (used King Arthur’s Sparkling White Sugar).

I’m getting ready to run these down to the job site~~a small sweet surprise for my dedicated crew.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.     Maya Angelou