Fresh Cherry Pie

Let me tell you, there is nothing better in this world that fresh cherry pie.
And Jeff can vouch for that !
I posted earlier about pitting the cherries without a cherry pitter and now it is time to show the result of my labor.

This awesome fresh cherry pie !
The cherries were held in place with the aid of this cooking wonder called tapioca and with some starch.
Here it is a close-up of the tapioca pearls.

I used the store-bought-pie-crust-mix because it is so flaky and yummy and it is a snap to make it.
Add water to the dough mix, stir, spread the dough, transfer it to the pie pan, add the cherry mixture, bake and love it !

Ingredients:
1 pie crust for a 9 inch pie pan + extra dough for the top lattice(which is roughly another 9 inch dough)
1,5 lb of cherries, after you washed and pitted them and cut them in half ()
1 cup sugar or 1 cup of Splenda
2 TBSP lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 teaspoons cold water
2 teaspoons corn starch
4 TBSP tapioca
1,5 TBSP butter

Directions:
Line the pie pan with the pie dough and put it in the fridge.
In a large bowl place the cherries and add the sugar, tapioca, vanilla, lemon juice and the starch dissolved in the 3 teaspoons of cold water.
Toss and let sit for 15 minutes, stirring every now and then.
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Pull the pie pan out of the fridge and pour the cherries.
Line the pie with the lattice and and cut the butter into small pieces and place it on top.
Don't forget about the "cute" detail (shown below).


Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes.
After the 35 minutes have passed, remove the aluminum and bake for 15 more minutes.
It will look bubbly and beautiful.
Let cool at least 10 minutes in the pan before eating.
Pairs perfectly with whipped cream.
Update:
I found this really cool info on how to use a pastry tip to remove the pits.