This chocolate cherry pie has a butter sour cream chocolate pie crust and a delectable gooey tart cherry filling. Served with a scoop of vanilla whipped cream it's like black forest cake but in pie form! I infused the filling with a touch of liquor and cinnamon to add warmth and even more depth of flavor. The chocolate crust bakes up to be rich, chocolatey, and crunchy, and the filling is packed full of cherries and holds its shape beautifully.
If you're making a fruit pie for thanksgiving and the holidays, let it be this chocolate cherry pie.
Jump to:
🥧 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- Chocolate butter sour cream pie crust: A crisp, flaky pie crust that melts in your mouth and tastes so rich and chocolatey
- Cherry pie filling: with a touch of cinnamon and cherry liquor (optional), adding warmth into the flavor that pairs perfectly with the chocolate crust
- Easy: Both the crust and the filling are really quick and easy to put together and you don't have to precook the filling or prebake the crust.
- Black forest pie: Serve slices of this chocolate cherry pie with scoops of vanilla whipped cream (or ice cream!) and you'll have all of the flavors of black forest cake - in a pie form! After all, that was the inspiration.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
All purpose flour: Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
Cocoa powder: I use Dutch processed cocoa powder for a more rich, chocolate flavor than natural cocoa powder gives. You could use either.
Unsalted butter: You could use a lightly salted butter if you prefer, just omit the salt in the crust. A good quality butter is key to a good butter pie crust.
Sour cream: This adds moisture and richness to the pie crust and helps it come together.
Tart cherries: My favorite cherries to use are tart Montmorency cherries, they appear really bright red in pies and have that signature bright cherry pie flavor that we're all used to. They're easy to find in your local grocery store or health store's freezer section, or at farmers markets. If you love tart cherries, try making my cherry meringue pie or cherry curd.
Cornstarch: This thickens the pie filling. If you plan on freezing the pie, I recommend using arrowroot starch because cornstarch doesn't freeze well. I prefer cornstarch or arrowroot starch over flour for thickening pies because pie filling tends to get cloudy with flour. Substitute the cornstarch with arrowroot starch if you plan on freezing the pie.
Cinnamon: This adds a touch of warm flavor in the filling without making it taste like cinnamon.
Cherry liquor: You can substitute this with brandy or omit it altogether but it helps deepen the flavor and pairs beautifully with the chocolate crust. Since black forest cake typically contains cherry liquor, I decided to add a touch into the filling too.
Almond extract: I love adding almond extract in cherry pies because it really helps that cherry flavor pop.
👩🍳 How to make chocolate cherry pie
Cherry pie filling and assembly step by step
Step 1: Combine frozen cherries, sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, lemon juice, and almond extract in a large bowl. Mix to coat all of the cherries. Set it aside in the fridge.
Step 2: Roll out one disk of pie crust on a floured clean surface to ¼" thick. Transfer it into a pie plate, letting the pie crust fall into the bottom without stretching it.
Step 3: Add the pie filling, making sure to try to get all of the dry bits in there too. Pile it all into the center of the pie.
Roll out the second pie crust disk the same way. Cut it into thick strips.
Step 4: Arrange the strips, overlapping, on top of the pie in the form of a lattice.
Step 5: Trim the excess pie crust, leaving about 1 inch around the perimeter of the pie to create the crust. Tuck the pie crust edge toward the bottom of the pie and use your fingers or a fork to crimp the edges.
Brush the top of the pie with cream and sprinkle liberally with coarse sugar.
Step 6: Place the pie plate on a larger cookie sheet and bake in the bottom half of your oven preheated to 355°F (180°C) for 60-75 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the top is crisp. If the top crust or edges begin to brown too quickly, you can shield them with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent them from burning.
Let it cool until warm or room temperature before slicing and serving with a dollop of whipped cream (or brown butter ice cream) and shaved chocolate.
✔️ Expert pie tips
- Don't overwork the butter: Keeping the chunks of butter thicker helps create more flaky layers in the pie crust.
- Keep the cherries frozen: tart cherries are easiest found frozen and I recommend not defrosting them because they are very juicy and it will quickly become difficult to work with it.
- Don't under bake the pie: It's better to overbake a fruit pie than to under bake it, because if you under bake a cherry pie then the filling won't set! You'll know that it's ready when the filling is bubbly. Tent the top of the pie with aluminum foil if you're worried about charring it.
- Serve pie warm: The key to a delicious slice of pie with a butter crust is to warm them up so that the butter inside the crust melts and creates a flaky, tender, crisp, crust.
🥄 Make ahead and storage
Pies are great to make ahead because they need to cool down and set before you can dig in. You can make the pie and whipped cream a day ahead of time and store them in the fridge (separately) until you're ready to slice and serve.
I recommend heating up the black forest pie until it's warm before cutting into it and serving because there's really nothing better than a warm pie with a crunchy, buttery crust.
Store the pie, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days. I don't recommend freezing it because cornstarch is used to thicken the filling and cornstarch doesn't hold up well during the thawing process. Instead, I recommend substituting cornstarch with arrowroot starch if you plan on freezing the pie.
How to ensure my cherry pie filling sets
First of all, you have to ensure that the starch that thickens the filling is activated.
The way that I check that the filling is thickened and all of the cornstarch is activated is by seeing if the filling is bubbling. If it's not bubbling, then put the pie back into the oven and check again in 10 minutes.
Another important step is to make sure that the pie cools to room temperature because it will continue to thicken up as it cools.
Lastly, if you know that you're working with particularly juicy cherries, I recommend adding an extra tablespoon of starch into the black forest cherry pie filling just to make sure that it sets up properly. Moisture content in tart cherries can vary slightly depending on their environment so you may need to adjust that. I've made this pie many times with tart cherries from different farms and areas and I've found that ¼ cup of cornstarch is the perfect amount. If you think that that's a lot of starch - tart cherries have much more juice than your typical table dark cherry.
📖 Recipe FAQs
You're going to have to reduce the sugar and the cornstarch because dark cherries aren't as tart and juicy as tart cherries. Usually, pies are made with tart cherries because they have a deeper, brighter flavor that works much better in baked goods than dark cherries. Dark cherries are for eating, and tart cherries are for baking. If you can't find tart cherries in your grocery store freezer section, try checking out a local baking supplier or a health store. Or online!
Yes you can but then it won't taste like chocolate.
Yes you can, you can add cinnamon and cherry liquor into it to make it more similar to my recipe. It will work great!
🍒 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
Chocolate Cherry Black Forest Pie
Equipment
- 9 inch round pie plate
Ingredients
Chocolate Sour Cream Pie Crust
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter cut into 1 cm cubes and frozen
- ⅓ cup sour cream cold
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup cold water
Tart Cherry Pie Filling
- 1 ½ lbs tart cherries frozen, don't defrost, about 6 cups
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch (use 3 tablespoons for a saucier pie)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons cherry liquor optional
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons coarse demerara sugar
Vanilla Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream cold
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup mascarpone cheese cold
- ¼ bar dark chocolate for shaving on top
Instructions
Chocolate Sour Cream Pie Crust
- Combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Mix together to combine.2 ¼ cup all purpose flour, ⅓ cup cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Add cold butter and work it into the mixture until it resembles coarse peas and flour.1 cup unsalted butter
- Add sour cream, and vanilla, and mix it in well with a spoon. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, mixing with your hands, until the mixture comes together. You will need about two tablespoons.⅓ cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ cup cold water
- Flatten and fold the dough three times right in the bowl and cut it in half. Form two disks. Wrap each disk up and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
Tart Cherry Pie Filling
- Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C).
- Combine frozen cherries, sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, liquor, and almond extract in a large bowl. Mix to coat all of the cherries. Set it aside in the fridge.1 ½ lbs tart cherries, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons cherry liquor, ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Roll out one disk of pie crust on a floured clean surface to ¼" thick. Transfer it into a pie plate, letting the pie crust fall into the bottom without stretching it.
- Add the pie filling, making sure to try to get all of the dry bits in there too. Pile it all into the center of the pie.
- Roll out the second pie crust disk the same way. Cut it into 1.5 inch thick strips and arrange them, overlapping, on top of the pie in the form of a lattice.
- Trim the excess pie crust, leaving about 1 inch around the perimeter of the pie to create the crust.
- Tuck the pie crust edge toward the bottom of the pie and use your fingers or a fork to crimp the edges.
- Brush the top of the pie with cream and sprinkle liberally with coarse sugar.2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, 2 tablespoons coarse demerara sugar
- Place the pie plate on a larger cookie sheet and bake in the bottom half of your oven for 60-75 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the top is crisp. If the top crust or edges begin to brown too quickly, you can shield them with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent them from burning.
- Let it cool until warm or room temperature before slicing and serving.
Vanilla Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- Combine cold cream, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl or an electric mixer. Use a wire whisk to whip the cream to medium-stiff peaks.¾ cup heavy whipping cream, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- Add mascarpone cheese and whip it up to stiff peaks. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days.½ cup mascarpone cheese
- Spoon a dollop of whipped cream over the pieces of pie. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the side of the chocolate bar over the whipped cream.¼ bar dark chocolate
Notes
- Don't overwork the butter - keep it chunky
- Keep the cherries frozen to make it easier to assemble
- Bake until the filling bubbles: Tent the top with foil to prevent the crust from burning if needed.
- Serve pie warm for a tender, crisp crust
Comments
No Comments