This is a cherry meringue pie with a creamy, tart cherry curd filling in an all butter pie crust and mile high meringue piped on like trees. It's THE pie to make for your holiday table. U.S.-grown tart Montmorency cherries make an incredibly flavorful sweet and tart filling that makes your mouth water. Plus it's on a crisp all butter pie crust and the Italian meringue is stable and won't collapse on you.
This is truly a holiday pie that requires a lot of steps but this recipe explains how you could split them up between multiple days. The result is well worth the extra effort and everyone will be raving about the pie for years to come.
This recipe is in partnership with the Utah Red Tart Cherry Marketing Board.
Jump to:
🍒 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- Tart cherry curd filling: local US Montmorency cherries are bright red and have a mouthwatering, sour and sweet, bright cherry flavor.
- Mile high meringue: Tall trees piped out of stable Italian meringue look like a snow covered forest.
- The perfect holiday pie: Festive, full of a variety of textures and flavors, and unique. It's truly a showstopper in every way.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
Tart Montmorency cherries: These can be easily found in your grocery store, health store, or farmer's market freezer section all year round. Look for "red tart U.S. cherries" or "Montmorency cherries." They're bright red and have a bright, sweet and tart, intense cherry flavor. Imported tart cherries may travel up to 5000 miles before reaching your grocery store, so support hardworking, local farmers and look for U.S.-grown Montmorency tart cherries to make this pie.
Lemon: A touch of lemon juice in the curd filling helps the cherry flavor pop even more - and also helps create a brighter red colored curd. I also added a touch of lemon juice into the meringue to help it whip up airy and tall.
Eggs: I've created this recipe so that no egg yolks or egg whites get left behind. You're going to need 6 yolks for the cherry curd - and the 6 egg whites from the yolks get reserved for the meringue. Plus, 2 whole large eggs get added into the cherry curd.
Pie crust: This recipe includes instructions on how to make a homemade all butter pie crust. You can use a store-bought pie crust that you will need to blind bake (according to the instructions in this recipe), but that will save you some time. I do recommend making a homemade pie crust - you can do this a day or two ahead of making your pie. After all, it is the holidays and this is the time to go all out!
Butter: An essential ingredient in the all butter pie crust as well as the curd to create a silky smooth curd with a luxurious mouthfeel.
This pie recipe is based on my viral raspberry meringue pie which was such a hit with my viewers that I had to create an equally sumptuous cherry version.
🍒 Why tart Montmorency cherries?
Tart cherries are amazing for cooking and baking because they're more flavorful and have and a higher acidity level than sweet cherries. The vibrant cherry flavor really comes out when you bake or cook the cherries. I find that the tarter the fruit that I use for curd, the better it tastes! Sour cherries were just made to be turned into curd.
Montmorency cherries are the most commonly grown tart cherry variety grown in the United States. Because they're quite delicate and don't store long when they're fresh, it's much easier to find them frozen in the freezer section all year round. I've found U.S.-grown Montmorency cherries at my local health food store, at larger grocery stores, and at baking suppliers because they're most commonly used for pies in the baking community.
Support your local farmers and look for U.S.-grown tart Montmorency cherries. They have a brighter red color, and don't bleed like the commonly imported "morello" variety. Local Montmorency cherries are picked at peak freshness and frozen quickly so that we can enjoy farm fresh cherries all year round.
👩🍳 How to make tart cherry meringue pie
Pie crust step by step
Step 1: Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Add cubed frozen butter butter and work it into the dough with your fingers by flattening the cubes into the flour, working quickly.
Step 2: Stop once the mixture resembles peas covered in flour.
Step 3: Combine the ice water and vinegar in a separate bowl. Add the water mixture gradually, tablespoon by tablespoon, and stir the dough mixture. Stop adding as soon as the dough starts to come together. Squish it into a disk, wrap, and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (can be made a day or two ahead of time).
Step 4: Roll out the crust on a floured surface to about 12 inches in diameter and transfer it into a pie plate.
Step 5: Tuck the edges underneath the edge to create a thicker crust, and crimp the edges with a fork or your fingers.
Step 6: Poke the bottom with a fork, cover with a piece of parchment paper or foil, and fill with dry beans or rice.
Step 7: Place the crust on a cookie sheet and bake at 355°F (190°C) for 25 minutes. Then, carefully remove the parchment paper with the beans and bake for another 20-25 minutes until golden brown all over.
Cherry curd pie filling step by step
Step 1: Combine frozen cherries, ¾ cup of sugar, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Simmer on low heat until it reduces by half - there should be two cups total of liquid and solids.
Step 2: Strain the cherry liquid through a sieve, smashing the solid bits to remove as much liquid as possible.
Step 3: Whisk together ¼ cup of sugar with the cornstarch. Add two whole eggs, six egg yolks, and whisk.
Step 4: Gradually whisk in the hot cherry syrup. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, add butter, and cook until thickened - stirring with a spatula constantly to prevent lumps.
Step 5: Pour the hot cherry mixture into the baked crust.
Step 6: Press cling film right onto the top of the cake to prevent a film from forming. Refrigerate until set, about 3-4 hours or overnight.
Italian meringue step by step
Step 1: Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat on medium-low heat until simmering, then add a candy thermometer and continue simmering until it's at 235°F (115°C), soft ball stage.
Step 2: While the syrup comes to temperature, add egg whites into a stand mixer or a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add the lemon juice and whip to medium- stiff peaks.
Step 3: While the mixer is on medium-high speed, slowly pour the syrup into the side of the bowl of egg whites. Then add the vanilla extract. Keep mixing until all of the syrup is added and the bowl is no longer hot.
Step 4: Remove the pie from the oven and remove the wrap on top. Use a spatula to spread out a thick two inch layer of meringue all the way to the edges of the pie.
Transfer the rest of the meringue into a piping bag with a large open star tip - or a storage bag with the edge cut off. Pipe dollops one on top of the other to make trees.
Step 5: Use a kitchen torch to toast the trees evenly. Slice and serve!
✔️ Expert meringue pie tips
- Use a non-metal coated saucepan to prevent a metallic aftertaste. The acidity of the tart cherries can react with a metal saucepan, giving the curd a slight metallic flavor. You can also prevent this by storing and mixing it in glass or non-metal containers.
- Temper the eggs: By gradually adding the hot cherry sauce into eggs and whisking well, you prevent the eggs from cooking too quickly and turning into lumpy scrambled eggs. Don't skip this!
- Stir constantly: Once the eggs are added, it's important to constantly stir the curd so that it cooks evenly and has a silky smooth texture.
- Spend the extra time to make Italian meringue: This creates a stable, marshmallow like meringue that won't collapse for a few days because the process of pouring hot sugar syrup into the egg whites cooks them. Alternatively you could make swiss meringue, but I personally prefer Italian meringue because it's faster and more hands off.
🥄 Make ahead and storage
Store the leftover cherry meringue pie in a cake carrier, refrigerated, for up to 3 days. I like pressing a piece of parchment paper over the cut sides because it prevents the filling from oozing out and forming a crust as it sits. This pie doesn't freeze well because it has cornstarch in the filling. If frozen, the filling might lose its structure.
This cherry meringue pie has a lot of steps and components to it. But it's so worth it!! To make it easier on you, I have a timeline of how early in advance you can make each component:
The crust: you can make the crust the day before you bake it. It needs to rest in the fridge before rolling, crimping, and baking so overnight will work great! You can also bake the crust and refrigerate it a whole day ahead of assembly. Once I even froze the baked crust for a week. It definitely makes it easier to get the pie crust done ahead of time
The filling: The tart cherry filling needs to set and firm up well so that it can slice so you can make it and pour it into the crust the day before. The unwhipped egg whites will store well in the fridge overnight and will still whip up well the next day.
The meringue: I prefer to whip up and top the pie with the meringue within 24 hours of serving it. Make sure that you have a bowl or cake carrier that can cover the pie to store it in the fridge without smashing the trees until you're ready to serve.
🥧 How to turn curd into pie filling
The filling is based on my cherry curd recipe with a bit of added cornstarch so that the filling is more stable and sliceable. When I developed the recipe, I tried just adding more egg yolks instead of cornstarch to thicken the curd enough for a pie. No matter how many egg yolks I added, it just wouldn’t be enough - unless I added a ridiculous amount of egg yolks. Corn starch came to the rescue and the resulting texture was perfect. You can substitute arrowroot starch or potato starch for corn starch and get similar results.
If you want to freeze the pie, I highly recommend using arrowroot starch or potato starch instead of cornstarch because cornstarch tends to lose its thickening properties after the thawing process.
📖 Recipe FAQs
No, sweet cherries that are most commonly sold for snacking won't work because they don't have much acidity, aren't as flavorful, and have a very different moisture content.
You can always pop the curd into a blender to blend out any lumps.
If you don’t have a candy or instant read thermometer, you can test if the sugar syrup is up to temp by dropping it into a cup full of ice water, If the drop of sugar makes a soft and squishy ball, then it’s ready to go.
To make sure your meringue whips to stiff peaks, there are a couple of steps. When separating the yolks and whites, make sure that they go into a clean bowl or container, and that none of the yolks get into the whites. The bowl and whisk need to be oil free and completely clean (wipe them down with some lemon juice or vinegar). Lastly, make sure that your sugar syrup is at the right temperature.
I always make and fill the pie with the cherry curd filling the day before and have no problem making Italian meringue the next day. Make sure they are refrigerated in a clean, airtight container, and there aren't any bits of egg yolks in there.
If you don't pipe the meringue as trees, then you can use the oven to broil the top. I recommend using a blow torch if you decide to pipe on trees like I did - it will be much more even and the trees won't burn.
🥧 More related recipes
Did you make this recipe? I would love for you to rate this recipe and hear what you think in the comments below! Share your creation on Instagram and tag @flouringkitchen. Follow me on Pinterest to save and for more recipe ideas.
📖 Recipe
Cherry Meringue Pie
Equipment
- 9 inch round pie plate
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour 150g
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter cubed and frozen for 10 minutes
- ½ cup ice water
- 1 teaspoon vinegar apple cider or white vinegar
Cherry curd
- 4 cups frozen tart red cherries 500g, Montmorency cherries
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 large eggs
- 6 large egg yolks reserve egg white for meringue
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt omit salt if using salted butter
Italian Meringue
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons water
- 6 large egg whites reserved from the curd
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Pie crust
- Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Add cubed frozen butter butter and work it into the dough with your fingers by flattening the cubes into the flour, working quickly. Stop once the mixture resembles peas covered in flour.1 ¼ cups all purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ½ cup unsalted butter
- Combine the ice water and vinegar in a separate bowl. Add the water mixture gradually, tablespoon by tablespoon, and stir the dough mixture. Stop adding as soon as the dough starts to come together. Squish it into a disk, wrap, and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (can be made a day or two ahead of time).½ cup ice water, 1 teaspoon vinegar
- Roll out the crust on a floured surface to about 12 inches in diameter and transfer it into a pie plate. Tuck the edges underneath the edge to create a thicker crust, and crimp the edges with a fork or your fingers. Poke the bottom with a fork, cover with a piece of parchment paper or foil, and fill with dry beans or rice.
- Place the crust on a cookie sheet and bake at 355°F (190°C) for 25 minutes. Then, carefully remove the parchment paper with the beans and bake for another 20-25 minutes until golden brown all over.
Cherry Curd
- Combine frozen cherries, ¾ cup of sugar, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Simmer on low heat until it reduces by half - there should be two cups total of liquid and solids.4 cups frozen tart red cherries, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- Strain the cherry liquid through a sieve, smashing the solid bits to remove as much liquid as possible.
- Whisk together ¼ cup of sugar with the cornstarch. Add two whole eggs, six egg yolks, and whisk. Gradually whisk in the hot cherry syrup.¼ cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 large eggs, 6 large egg yolks
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, add butter and salt, and cook until thickened - stirring with a spatula constantly to prevent lumps.⅓ cup unsalted butter, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Pour the hot cherry mixture into the baked crust. Press cling film right onto the top of the cake to prevent a film from forming. Refrigerate until set, about 3-4 hours or overnight.
Italian Meringue
- Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat on medium-low heat until simmering, then add a candy thermometer and continue simmering until it's at 235°F (115°C), soft ball stage.1 ½ cups granulated sugar, 5 tablespoons water
- While the syrup comes to temperature, add egg whites into a stand mixer or a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add the lemon juice and whip to medium- stiff peaks.6 large egg whites, 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- While the mixer is on medium-high speed, slowly pour the syrup into the side of the bowl of egg whites. Then add the vanilla extract. Keep mixing until all of the syrup is added and the bowl is no longer hot.1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Remove the pie from the oven and remove the wrap on top. Use a spatula to spread out a thick two inch layer of meringue all the way to the edges of the pie.
- Transfer the rest of the meringue into a piping bag with a large open star tip - or a storage bag with the edge cut off. Pipe dollops one on top of the other to make trees. Use a kitchen torch to toast the trees.
Notes
- Ideally, use a non-metal coated saucepan to prevent a metallic aftertaste in the cherry curd.
- Gradually add the hot cherry sauce into the eggs to prevent lumpy scrambled cherry curd filling
- Stir constantly to prevent lumps in the cherry curd when cooking
- Spend the extra time to make Italian meringue for a stable, marshmallow like meringue that won't collapse for a few days
Comments
No Comments