Quick and Easy Cherry Pie Filling

Quick and Easy Cherry Pie Filling is the best way to fill up a pie crust.  Whole, pitted cherries, in a thick, not-too-sweet homemade sauce, is just the thing to make your summer cherry pie a little more special. This recipe requires no canning and is not meant for long-term storage.

Nothing screams summer or summer comfort food/dessert more than a homemade cherry pie.  Well, maybe for some, an apple pie does that, but I tend to associate apple pie with September and October.  Cherry pie is traditionally made with tart rather than sweet cherries.  But, with my Quick and Easy Cherry Pie Filling recipe, you can use whatever whole cherry you prefer.  I find that the sweet cherries, which is what I used, require less added sugar, which is always a bonus.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Cherries – Bing cherries are the best for pie fillings. They are dark reddish purple, larger in size, and sweet.
• Sugar
• Water
• Lemon Juice – If you were preserving the pie filling for long-term storage, you would want to use bottled lemon juice, but in this case, freshly squeezed is best, because you will need lemon zest too!
• Lemon Zest – Wash the lemon and dry it well before testing.
• Cornstarch – This will thicken the pie filling.
• Salt – To balance out the sweetness.

LET’S TALK CHERRIES

Now, let’s talk about cherries. In most grocery stores, there are only two varieties of cherries that are commonly found. They are called Bing and Rainer Cherries. So, what’s the difference? Visually, the difference is very easy to see. Bing cherries are dark in colour – almost like a deep purple, and Rainer cherries are lighter in colour, and most commonly reddish pink with lighter yellow bits too.

When I was making this Quick and Easy Cherry Pie Filling, I used Bing cherries. Likewise, when I prepared my Cherry Jam Preserves, and my Cherry Cake with a Pecan Crumble Topping last summer, I used a Bing cherries as well. You see, I find that Rainer cherries are perfect eating cherries, but when it comes to baking and cooking, Bing cherries are preferred, because they tend to be larger and sweeter.

I think the same can be said about making jam. Bing cherries will allow you to use less sugar because of their natural sweetness. And, with Bing cherries, you’ll get that familiar deep and dark purplish colour you see in most cherry jams and preserves.

HOW TO MAKE CHERRY PIE FILLING

Once the cherries are washed and pitted, whisk together the water, lemon juice, lemon zest, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside. In a large sauce pan, add the cherries and the sugar.  Pour the cornstarch mixture over top and turn on the heat to medium. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Once the mixture begins to boil, lower the heat to simmer and continue to cook for another 10 minutes. It is imperative that you stir the mixture at regular intervals to prevent the sauce from burning.  

Once done, pour the hot cherry pie filling into very clean mason jars.  Wipe the rim of the jars clean and place on a seal, followed by a ring.  Tighten and leave jars to cool completely undisturbed for 12 hours.  Store in your fridge and use within 6 weeks.

AMERICANS LOVE CHERRY PIE!

Did you know that cherry pie is more associated with North America than any other place on earth?  And did you know that due to the harvest of cherries taking place midsummer, which coincides with both Canada Day and Independence Day, cherry pies are very often served on these particular holidays?

Is cherry pie a go-to, summertime dessert in your home?  It’s not in ours.  John.e loves cherries and will often treat himself to a large bag every summer.  I’m not a fan of farm-grown cherries.  But, I do love them baked into a cherry pie. 

Although, if I’m being completely honest here, I am a very picky eater when it comes to texture.  So, even though I love raw wild cherries, and I love my Quick and Easy Cherry Pie Filling, when eating pie, I usually move the whole cherry to one side on my plate and just eat the cherry sauce and the pastry.

MEMORIES OF CHERRIES AND CHILDHOOD

Growing up in Newfoundland, I can’t ever remember eating homemade cherry pie filling.  My mom always bought cherry pie filling in a can.  In fact, the cherries that we ate in Newfoundland never came from a store.  We had a huge cherry tree directly behind our house.  It was a wild cherry tree, which meant the cherries were quite small; about the size of currents.  There was no way anyone was going to try to pit those babies.

I don’t remember how the tree came about, to be honest.  I do, however, remember climbing that tree and picking handfuls of those cherries.  Us kids would forage and walk around spitting the seeds out of our mouths at random.  So classy, weren’t we? 

Just up the road, a gentlemen that everyone knew as Uncle Roy, owned what you would refer to as a ‘real’ cherry tree.  The cherries were huge. Oftentimes, if we were lucky enough to be walking by, either him or his wife, Aunt Jessie, would give us kids a few and send us on our way. 

As I got older, I realized that Uncle Roy and Aunt Jessie were actually my great Aunt and Uncle.  I never knew at the time.  Out of respect for our elders, we called them Aunt and Uncle.  I can’t tell you how many Aunts and Uncles I had that were in fact no blood relation at all!  Times surely have changed.

NOTHING EVER STAYS THE SAME

That cherry tree, and our family home, are gone now.  We moved from Newfoundland to Ontario when I was very thirteen years old.  A few years later, there was a house fire, and the house and the trees around it are gone. 

I went back to Newfoundland in 2003 to see it and there was just a big black hole where my entire childhood had once stood.  When I was a kid, the house seemed like it was so big, but looking at that empty space, void of anything but ashes and rubble, it looked so small.

Just like the memories of my mom’s store-bought cherry pie filling and all of the desserts she was able to create with it, all I have now are glimpses of imagery that periodically pass through my mind.  From time to time, I’ll recall the velvet wallpaper in the living room, or the round orange and brown cushion covers my mom would crochet to match the couch cover. 

I’ll think about watching Three’s Company and Happy Days during our weeknight dinners at that old green and gold chrome dining room table.  And, of course, I could never forget the bedroom that I shared with my brother with the circus lion wallpaper, and my large collection of Archie comics.

I WAS RIGHT ABOUT SIMPLER TIMES!

I’m sorry, Dear Reader.  This post quickly turned from all that is Quick and Easy Cherry Pie Filling to a walk down memory lane.  Do you see how something as simple and as good as a pie filling can conjure up images of times gone by? 

That’s one of the things I love most about food.  Food, for me, is all about comfort and sharing that comfort and love with the ones I care most about.  That’s why Lord Byron’s Kitchen is a place where I get to document not only the recipes I love, but also, the moments and the memories that have created me and continue to inspire me.

And, speaking of comfort food, nothing is as comforting as a good homemade pie – especially if that pie is filled with this Quick and Easy Cherry Pie Filling!  Until next time, Dear Reader – Cheers!