Each time we drive to Tahoe, we go past all these fruit stands by the side of the road. The benefits of living in Northern California I guess!

GIVE ME TASTY FRUIT!

Anyhow, this time around on the way back we actually stopped off and bought some stuff from the Dixon Fruit Market.

Oh. My. Word.

It was more a case of what did I not want to buy, than what I wanted to buy, but I managed to limit myself to some nice fresh Cherries, Strawberries and Apricots, some Sun-dried Apricots and tomatoes, Pistachios, and some chocolate covered Cherries. When I say chocolate covered cherries, these were dried cherries, covered in quite a hefty layer of milk chocolate, then covered in another hefty layer of some cherry-flavoured red-coloured chocolate. They were immense.

Anyway, to the recipe. If you follow me on twitter, you would have seen a little teaser to this bad boy last night. With about half of the cherries I made some more “Cherry Garcia” frozen yogurt, with the rest I made tasty PIE!

Cherry and Almond Pie Recipe – adapted from Vegan Pie in the Sky by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

Ingredients

Pastry

2/3 cup olive oil, semi-frozen (see above)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

4 tbsp ice water

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Filling

5 cups pitted tart cherries

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp almond extract

Topping

non-dairy milk

sugar

Method

In a large mixing bowl, combine together the flours and salt, then add the semi-frozen olive oil, cutting it into the flour until it appears pebbly.

Add the vinegar to the water, then add it a tablespoon at a time until it comes together into a soft ball.

(or, you can cheat like me and put the flours and salt in your food processor, pulse to combine, then add the semi-frozen olive oil and process to breadcrumbs. Finally, process while adding the water/vinegar mixture, until it comes together into a ball. I won’t tell anyone. Promise.)

Divide the dough into two, then place in the fridge to chill.

Put all the filling ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 425F/220C, and place a tray in the oven to warm up.

Grease and flour a 9 inch pie dish. Take half of the chilled pastry, roll out and use to line the pie dish, then add the filling. Roll out the other half and place over the filling, crimping the edges together. Using a sharp knife, cut a few vent holes, then brush with non-dairy milk and sprinkle with sugar. I had a bit of leftover pastry so I made some little cherries for on top as well.

Place on the tray in the preheated oven, and bake for 20 minutes, then reducing the temperature to 350F/180C and baking for a further 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling up through the vents.

Allow to cool so you don’t burn your mouth, then serve!

Action shot!

It’s like a Cherry Bakewell, but a full on fruit pie version instead of cakey.