A beautiful cherry pie with a tender, buttery crumb and a cloud-light meringue topping. A truly magical recipe you’ll fall in love with because it’s incredibly simple! All you need is a hand mixer and 10–15 minutes of active work. Every year for Ukraine Independence Day we have a tradition to bake a pie. Last year around it was a mushroom galette, but this year we’re in the mood for something sweet!
This is a pie my grandmother used to bake when I was little. Unfortunately, we lost her recipe, and for a long time I couldn’t quite recreate that taste of childhood. Help came from an unexpected place – while making a plum pie for my cooking club, I realised the sponge base was remarkably close to the one my grandma used to make. So, here we are! Cherry pie for Ukraine Independence Day: sweet as a Ukrainian summer, light as clouds drifting over the Dnipro, with just enough tartness to make life feel beautiful.
A few tips so everything turns out perfectly:
I’ll keep the tips to a minimum, because the recipe really is very simple. Take your butter and eggs out of the fridge ahead of time. The secret to a smooth batter is equal temperature of all the ingredients. The butter should be soft, and the milk for the batter and the egg whites for the meringue should both be at room temperature. I also recommend washing and thoroughly degreasing your mixer bowl before whipping the egg whites, not a single drop of fat should get in there.
The preparation of this cherry pie requires three main steps:
- We will prepare the batter by whipping together all the ingredients.
- We will pour the batter in the form and top it with sour cherries.
- We will bake the pie and halfway through arrange a light egg white meringue on top, then bake again till golden.
You can see all the steps and tips in the video below!
Ingredients
For the pie:
- unsalted butter (at room temperature) 140 g
- sugar 200 g
- eggs 2
- whole milk (at room temperature) 120 ml
- vanilla extract 1 tsp
- all-purpose flour 150 g
- almond flour (finely ground blanched almonds; find it in the baking aisle or at specialty stores) 60 g
- baking powder 1 tsp
- salt (~⅛ tsp) 1 pinch
- pitted sour cherries (fresh or frozen, well drained) 500 g
For the meringue topping:
- eggs (only whites, at room temperature) 3
- sugar 50 g
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F. Grease a round baking pan (23-26 cm in diameter) with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, use a hand or stand mixer to beat 140 g soft butter and 200 g sugar together until pale and fluffy. With the mixer still running, add the 2 eggs one at a time, then 1 tsp of vanilla extract and milk. Beat until light and airy. In a separate bowl, whisk together 150 g flour, 60 g almond flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 pinch of salt, then gradually add to the butter mixture. Beat again at medium-high speed until smooth and homogeneous.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and scatter the cherries on top (I highly recommend patting them dry with paper towels first — excess moisture is the enemy of a good crumb). Bake for 40 minutes.
- About 30 minutes into the baking, separate your 3 egg whites from the yolks and start beating them on high speed until foamy. Gradually add the 50 g sugar and continue beating until the meringue holds firm, glossy peaks.
- Pull the pie out of the oven and spread the meringue over the top in an even layer. Return to the oven for another 20 minutes. The topping should turn a beautiful toasty beige and puff up in volume (it will settle a little after it comes out of the oven — that's completely normal and exactly as it should be). Let the pie cool slightly, then dig in and enjoy!
Notes
- Take the butter and eggs out of the fridge well in advance. The butter must be soft, and the egg whites should be at room temperature — they whip up much more easily and hold their peaks better that way.
- Before whipping the egg whites, make sure your bowl and whisk attachments are completely clean and grease-free. Even the tiniest trace of fat will prevent the whites from whipping properly.
