It’s been a weird season for fruit here. The cold spring has put some crops off by a couple of weeks, meaning here it is in mid July and we can still get fresh, sweet cherries in the market. I apologize in advance if cherries are no longer available where you are. I just thought this pie was too good not to share. Most commercial cherry pies, and the cherry pies my grandmother used to make for us growing up, are made with sour cherries, which are bright, bright red, and almost impossible to find fresh. Although we have generous neighbors with cherry trees, we’ve never thought to make a pie with sweet cherries until now. My friend Maria served me a piece of her homemade pie made with sweet cherries, and wow, I couldn’t wait to make one for myself. I think what makes it work is not adding too much sugar (the cherries are already naturally sweet), and including some almond extract. There’s something magical about the flavors combination of cherries and almonds (see our cherry clafouti). By the way, it helps to have a good cherry pitter. Those pits can be rather time consuming to remove.

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