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