Ground cherries are the weirdest dang fruit, but they make a very tasty pie! If you’ve never heard of them, they look like a small tomatillo (a little tomato with a papery ‘husk’ you remove to eat) but taste, when raw, like a walnut. Baffling. When heated up in piethough, you get kind of the flavor of apple pie with a hint of pineapple. If you eat cold leftovers, though, back to a walnutty flavor. So strange! Totally worth eating, hot, though! They’re easy to grow, and if that’s not your thing you might be able to find them at the farmers’ market.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• heaping 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces
• 8-10 tablespoons ice water

Fruit Filling:

• 2 1/2 cups ground cherries, measured with husks removed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 1/2 tablespoons corn starch (I used flour, cornstarch would be much better for thickening)

To make the crust, first whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Work in the shortening with a pastry blender or your fingers until well combined. Work the butter in until the mixture is unevenly crumbly, with some butter pieces still a bit larger than others. Add the water one tablespoon at a time, stirring as you sprinkle. When the dough is moist enough that it holds together when squeezed, stop adding water and knead it three or four times to bring it together. Divide into two pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, flatten somewhat into a disk, and roll each disk on the counter to smooth out the edges, which helps with the edges later when you roll out the crust. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or overnight. (This is just a doubled version of the crust from Paper Bag Apple Pie.)

Once the dough is chilled, preheat your oven to 425. Roll out one of the disks of dough (the larger one, if one is bigger) and line a pie dish. Prick all over with a fork. Roll out the other disk of dough and cut into thin slices. In a medium bowl, stir together the filling ingredients well, then gently spoon into the bottom crust.

Create a lattice top with your crust slices, laying strips in one direction, then folding every other one back about halfway to add a perpendicular strip, alternating which strips get folded back to create a woven-looking pattern. Fold over the outside edge and crimp.

I’m still working on my crusts, clearly….

Bake 20 minutes at 425, then reduce the heat to 300 and bake an additional 35-40 minutes, until the filling is thickened. Serve still warm.

Ground Cherry Pie

Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• heaping 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces
• 8-10 tablespoons ice water

Fruit Filling:

• 2 1/2 cups ground cherries, measured with husks removed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 1/2 tablespoons corn starch

To make the crust, first whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Work in the shortening with a pastry blender or your fingers until well combined. Work the butter in until the mixture is unevenly crumbly, with some butter pieces still a bit larger than others. Add the water one tablespoon at a time, stirring as you sprinkle. When the dough is moist enough that it holds together when squeezed, stop adding water and knead it three or four times to bring it together. Divide into two pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, flatten somewhat into a disk, and roll each disk on the counter to smooth out the edges. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or overnight.

Once the dough is chilled, preheat your oven to 425. Roll out one of the disks of dough and line a pie dish with it. Prick all over with a fork. Roll out the other disk of dough and cut into thin slices. In a medium bowl, stir together the filling ingredients well, then gently spoon into the bottom crust. Create a lattice top with your crust slices, laying strips in one direction, then folding every other one back about halfway to add a perpendicular strip, alternating which strips get folded back to create a woven-looking pattern. Fold over the outside edge and crimp, then bake 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300 and bake an additional 35-40 minutes, until the filling is thickened. Serve still warm.