Food and Prop styling Goldie Stern
Photography Felicia Perretti

Apples combined with cherries in a fabulous pie dough makes for a showstopper of a dessert. Serve with vanilla ice cream laced with chocolate cherry liqueur for an elegant finale to any seudah. Special thanks to Mrs. Tovi Silverstein for the inspiration.

SERVES 8–10

Dough

• 2⅓ cups flour (I used white spelt), plus more for dusting
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• pinch nutmeg
• scant ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) trans-fat free margarine, cut into small pieces
• up to ½ cup cold water

Filling

• 6 medium apples, peeled and sliced in the food processor (I used 4 Granny Smith and 2 Golden Delicious)
• 1½ cups whole pitted cherries in light syrup, drained, reserving liquid
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice + syrup from cherries to equal ¾ cup
• ⅔ cup sugar, divided
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 rounded tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp margarine

For Serving

• vanilla ice cream
• 2–3 Tbsp chocolate cherry liqueur

Prepare a 9-inch (23-cm) pie plate. (If you use a foil pan, make sure to line with parchment paper.)

To make the crust: In the food processor fitted with the S blade, mix the flour, sugar, nutmeg, and salt. Add the margarine and process until coarse crumbs form. Add the water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until a dough forms — use as little as possible. Place in a plastic bag in the fridge for 1 hour or up to overnight.

To make the filling: Into a large bowl, place sliced apples and cherries. In a small pot, combine lemon-cherry sauce mixture, ¹⁄₃ cup sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt and whisk together. Cook for 5 minutes until mixture starts to boil and thicken, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat. Add the remaining ¹⁄₃ cup sugar and mix together well.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

Pour cooked mixture over apple-cherry mixture and let sit for 15 minutes. (This is to soften the apples and enhance the flavor, as the apples absorb the liquid.)

Remove dough from fridge and divide into two pieces, with one larger than the other. Put the smaller one in the freezer until the filling is ready. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger piece of dough into a 12-inch (30-cm) circle. Ease into prepared pie plate. (Alternately, you can press the dough into the pie plate, covering the bottom and sides.) Refrigerate until using.

Prepare an oven tray lined with foil (this tends to bubble over). Pour fruit mixture into prepared pie shell. Working quickly, grate the frozen dough and pile gently around the rim of the pie to form a border. Cut the 2 Tbsp of margarine into tiny pieces and scatter over the fruit filling.

Bake for 50 minutes, covering the edges and/or center halfway through so it doesn’t burn.

To serve: For a serving suggestion, use your favorite vanilla ice cream recipe and sub a few tablespoons of the cherry syrup for part of the sugar (or just mix into store-bought ice cream). Remove 1 cup of the ice cream mixture and mix chocolate cherry liqueur into it; swirl into the vanilla mixture to achieve a marbleized affect. Serve atop or alongside a slice of room-temperature or slightly warmed pie.

Note: Pie can be made in advance and frozen until using.

(Originally featured in Family Table, Special Tishrei Issue 810)