Cherry Pie

A filling recipe rather than a whole pie: the crust is assumed, and so is the pie plate. Everything hinges on how much liquid you leave in the cherries.

• "Pie cherries" in a canThis means water-packed sour cherries — Montmorency or similar — not sweet Bing cherries and not modern pre-thickened cherry pie filling. Cans of the period ran from about 16 oz (a No. 303) to about 20 oz (a No. 2), the larger giving roughly 2 cups drained fruit. If you buy a can already thickened and sweetened, skip the sugar and flour entirely.
• Drain, but keep some juiceThree and a half tablespoons of flour will set the fruit plus a few tablespoons of its own juice. Tip the whole can in undrained and you get soup under the top crust. Drain, then add back about 1/4 cup of the liquid.
• Almond extract is heavy hereA full teaspoon reads as marzipan to most palates. Half a teaspoon is closer to current taste, and the pairing works because the almond note echoes compounds already present in cherry stones.
• The temperatures are as printed500°F for the first 15 minutes sets and browns the bottom crust and starts the juices thickening; dropping to 375°F for 25 minutes finishes it. Total time is 40 minutes, which suits a 9-inch pie. Watch the fluted edge at 500°F and shield it with foil if it colors early.
• Crust quantityYou need pastry for a double 9-inch crust — about 2 1/2 cups flour's worth. Nothing in the recipe supplies it.
• Sealing the topMoistening the lower rim before fluting is the whole seal. Cut two or three vents in the top crust as well, or steam will lift it and split the edge.
• Yield and coolingOne 9-inch pie, six to eight servings. Let it cool at least two hours; cut warm and the flour-set filling will run.