You do need to spend the time to pit the cherries for a pie - it makes eating it so much more enjoyable.

Ingredients

• Cream Cheese Pastry
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar
• 175 grams butter, chilled and diced
• 125 grams cream cheese, chilled and diced
• 3-4 tablespoons cream
• Cherries
• 1 kilogram cherries, stoned
• ¼ cup corn flour
• ¼ cup sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC. Lightly grease a 23-24cm shallow-sided round flan or pie dish.
2. Place the flour and icing sugar into a food processor bowl fitted with the metal blade. Add the butter and cream cheese and pulse until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Pulse in sufficient cream to make coarse crumbs. Do not process until the mixture forms a ball as you will have overworked the pastry dough and it will be tough, not short, when cooked.
3. Turn out on to a lightly floured bench and bring together. Roll out to a 30cm round. Roll up and over the rolling pin and then unroll over the prepared dish, allowing the extra pastry to hang evenly over the edges.
4. Place half the cherries in a large bowl and crush coarsley with a potato masher. Stir in the corn flour and sugar. Pile cherries into the centre of the pastry, with whole ones on top.
5. Bring the overhanging edges of the pastry over the cherries, leaving the centre uncovered.
6. Place into the preheated oven, lower temperature immediately to 190ºC and bake for 40-45 minutes or until pastry is golden and cooked and cherries well softened. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Cooks Tips

- This pie can be made without a flan or pie dish. Place the pastry on a greased or baking paper-lined baking tray, pile the cherries in the cetnre and flip over the edges, leaving the centre area free of pastry. Bake as above. - The pastry can be glazed with beaten egg yolk for a golden finish if wished.