Cherry Pie Recipe

Measure out cold water and bourbon into a cup and freeze for a few minutes.
60 mL ice cold water, 15 mL bourbon or vodka any spirit (you can't taste it)
Place the flour in the bowl of the food processor. Place the whole bowl in the freezer while you cube the butter.
150 grams all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
Add the cubed butter to the flour in the freezer, for 5 minutes.
113 grams salted butter cold
Remove the the bowl from the freezer, place it on the food processor and pulse until pea seize chunks form.
While the food processor is on, stream in the water just until it starts to come together. Start with only 1/3 cup of water and use up to 1/2 cup if needed. You want the dough to be crumbly and just barely stick together.
Remove the dough from the food processor, press it together so it all sticks together and form a disc. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
Roll the chilled pie dough out into a large circle about 1/8" thick (larger than your pie dish so you can have some leeway) and shape it into the pie dish and freeze for 20 minutes and preheat the oven to 400F (204C) conventional (no fan).
Crumple up a parchment paper, place it on top of the chilled dough and then fill the pie crust with pie weights (or dry rice or dry beans) and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the pie weights and bake for about 10-15 more minutes, until it's golden brown. Allow to cool while you finish making the filling and streusel.

Pit all the cherries - you can do this a day in advance - and place them into a large bowl.
2.5 lbs fresh sweet cherries pitted (see notes on using frozen cherries)*
Slice all the cherries in half and and then slice about half of them into quarters so some of them are smaller.
Add the sugar, lemon juice (zest this lemon in a separate bowl first to mix with the sugar for the topping), cornstarch, almond extract and cinnamon to the mixture and toss until they’re all completely combined.
1 large lemon, juice, 100 grams granulated sugar can do up to double if you like it sweeter and more jammy, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp almond extract, 42 grams cornstarch spooned and leveled
Puree about ⅓ of the mixture in a food processor and then return the puree to the dish, mixing until they’re well combined. Set aside.

Place the butter in a medium light colored saucepan and cook over low-medium heat for a few minutes until it starts to foam.
Once it’s foaming, use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to stir it, making sure to scrape the bottom so none of it burns.
While you’re stirring, look to see if there are browned solids floating around, once they’ve browned to a deep amber color pour the butter into a large heat proof bowl.
113 grams salted butter browned to 93g melted
Add the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon to the melted butter and use a fork to mix just until pea size chunks start to form.
180 grams all-purpose flour spooned and leveled, 100 grams dark brown sugar lightly packed, 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Crush the almonds in your hands a bit before adding them to the streusel, mix until they're evenly distributed.
113 grams sliced almonds crush in your hands before adding

Preheat the oven to 350F (177C) conventional (no fan) and place the pie dish on a metal cookie sheet.
Pour the cherry filling into the par-baked crust and then top with the streusel. Spread the streusel out evenly on top, don't make a giant pile in the center or it won't bake right.
Bake the pie on the bottom rack of the oven for about 75 minutes. The streusel should be a dark golden brown and the filling should bubble around the edge. If the streusel is getting too dark and the filling is not yet bubbling, feel free to cover the top of the pie with foil for 10-20 minutes of the bake time.
Allow to cool for a few hours. I like to slice it when it's at room temperature or just a tiny bit warm.

In a medium bowl, rub the granulated sugar with the lemon zest using your fingers to release the oils from the lemon.
25 grams granulated sugar, 1 lemon, zest
Add the vanilla and heavy cream and either whisk aggressively for a long time or use a frother or a hand mixer to lightly whip the cream just until it's thickened but not holding peaks.
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla beans from 1/2 a pod), 120 mL heavy cream