Cherry Almond Custard Pie

We have never acquired a taste for canned cherries, so we eagerly grabbed a big bag of beautiful sweet cherries when they appeared at the market last week.  We bought enough to make this pie, a spin on the classic French dessert, cherry clafouti, plus a lovely cherry almond loaf (recipe coming soon).  Sweet cherries baked in an almond custard, all surrounded by a flaky pie crust.  Definitely worth the wait for fresh cherries.

Cherry Almond Custard Pie

Crust
makes enough for 2 pies

2            cups             unbleached A.P. flour
1/4         tsp                salt
1            tsp                sugar
1/2         lb                 unsalted butter, cubed and kept cold
1/4         cup               vegetable shortening, cold
 1/4        cup               ice water

Filling

1 1/2      cups             sugar
3            Tbs               unbleached A.P. flour
1/4          tsp               salt
3                                 eggs
2             Tbs              unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2       cups             buttermilk
1             tsp                vanilla
1/2          tsp                almond extract
                                   zest of 1 small lemon
3             cups             fresh, firm sweet cherries, stems removed, pitted and halved
                                   cinnamon

Crust

1. Combine Dry.  Add half the butter and mix until resembles coarse meal.  Add rest of butter and the shortening and cut in, leaving larger pieces of fat (around 1/4").  Add ice water until dough forms a ball (you may not need all the water).
2. Divide into two balls, wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate.  Let dough rest at least 4 hours before rolling out, but will keep for several days in the refrigerator if you want to plan ahead.
3. Roll out on a well-floured surface.  
4. This recipe only uses one ball of dough, and requires an unbaked pie shell.

Filling

1. Preheat oven to 325° convection (350°conventional) and place rack in middle of oven.
2. Combine sugar, flour and salt.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well each time.
3. Add melted butter, buttermilk, vanilla, almond extract, and lemon zest.
4. Fold in 2 cups of cherries.
5. Pour filling into unbaked pie crust.  Use last cup of cherries to make a decorative pattern, setting them into the custard cut-side down.  Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon all over the top.
6. Bake until custard is firmly set, about 1 hour.
7. Excellent served at room temperature or chilled.