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February 10, 2015

Heartbreak Pie (aka Black-Bottom Cherry Pie)

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Last week, my boyfriend and I broke up. The sudden change left me hollowed and lost.

I know what I’m feeling is nothing new. That’s why what Shakespeare wrote about coping is as relevant now as it was 400 years ago: “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o’erwrought heart and bids it break.”

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Take torch songs, for instance. There is solace in the over-the-top and drippy lyrics because it’s like Bonnie Raitt just gets you when all the logic and well-intentioned advice in the rational world doesn’t. She just gets how it feels to love someone so completely, and to try so hard, but to have it not be enough for that someone to stay. She just gets the incessant thoughts that plague you: What if I did something different? What if I were prettier, thinner, funnier, smarter, anything-er? Does he even miss me, or did he already forget? She just gets the inconsolable grief that follows. She just gets what it’s like to feel as if you’ve been thrown away.

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Over the weekend, I baked this. I don’t want to romanticize the experience by saying it was cathartic because it wasn’t. But rolling the dough and freezing it, and giving the filling a slow stir over the stove, and then neatly arranging it all together — it may not have been life-changing, but it was a welcome moment of peace and purpose.

This is a layered pie — dark chocolate ganache on the bottom, tart cherries and raspberries on top, all inside a barely sweet pastry shell. Every bite is a tangy, bittersweet experience.

So for my fellow broken hearts, this pie is my torch song.

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Heartbreak Pie (aka Black-Bottom Cherry Pie)

Yield: 1 pie (serves 10)
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (not including time for cooling)

Pie Dough (from Rose Levy Beranbaum):
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cubed (2 sticks)
3 cups bleached all-purpose flour
⅓ teaspoon salt
dash of baking powder (a little over ⅛ teaspoon)
⅔ cup cream cheese, cold and cubed
4 tbs heavy cream
4 tsp cider vinegar

Ganache Filling (same as this one):
1¼ cup heavy cream
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (no more than 65% cocao), chopped
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt

Cherry-Raspberry Filling:
3-4 cups pitted Bing cherries (I ended up using 3 cups and like a handful more)
½ cup raspberries
¾ cup minus 1 tbs sugar
2 tbs + 2 tsp cornstarch
pinch salt
1 tsp lemon zest
¼ tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon juice

Turbinado sugar (optional)
9½” deep dish pie pan

Prepare the crust and topping:

Cube the butter and freeze for 30 minutes. Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder in a freezer bag and freeze for 30 minutes as well.

In a food processor, process the cold flour and cream cheese for about 20 seconds until it looks like a coarse meal. Add in the frozen butter and pulse until the butter is slightly smaller the size of peas.

Add the cider vinegar and heavy cream and pulse until the mixture comes together. It won’t stick together into a cohesive lump (yet), so don’t worry! Turn the dough onto a cutting board and quickly knead it with the heel of your hands until it comes together.

Divide into halves and flatten into rough discs. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.

Prepare the ganache filling:

Bring the heavy cream to a boil. Pour it over the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate melts and is smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and salt. While whisking the chocolate, drizzle in the egg mixture and whisk until it’s nicely combined.

Prepare the cherry-raspberry filling:

In a saucepan, combine the cherries, raspberries, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes. Over medium heat, stir the mixture constantly until it bubbles and thickens and the cherries and raspberries break down a bit, which should take 1-3 minutes.

Cool the mixture and add in the lemon zest and vanilla. Stir well to combine.

Assemble the pie:

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Roll both discs of pie dough on a floured surface until they’re both ¼” thick. Trim one to be a 13″ round. Line the bottom of the pie pan with the 13″ round and decoratively crimp the edges, then poke some holes into the bottom with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

With the other disc of pie dough, cut out decorative shapes — hearts, circles, ducks, whatever — and refrigerate the pieces for 30 minutes.

Pour the ganache into the chilled pie dish, then gently top with the cherry-raspberry mixture. Arrange the decorative shapes on top. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Put the pie dish on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes on the middle rack, rotating halfway through. If the crust starts browning too much, cover it with foil and continue baking.

Let the pie cool completely before serving so that the filling sets. Serve at room temperature.

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16 Comments

  • Gabriella Word

    Amy, I am sorry you and your boyfriend broke up. Keep your chin up because you are gorgeous and super smart and just plain ole awesome!

    I have to tell you, that pie looks like heaven! I think I am going to try to make it on Saturday for my little boy. I will keep you posted on how badly I screw it up! :)

    February 10, 2015 at 8:32 am Reply
    • AmyK

      Gabriella — Thank you for the kind words! That was so sweet. :) And don’t worry about screwing it up, haha! Pies are notoriously tricky. Even my pie shell shrunk a bit, but if you put decorative shapes on top, no one will even notice. ;)

      February 11, 2015 at 8:47 am Reply
  • Blair

    I don’t know what I love more! The pie or this post. :) Really beautifully done, all the way around.

    February 10, 2015 at 8:35 am Reply
    • AmyK

      Blair — Aww, thank you! And the pie, definitely the pie.

      February 11, 2015 at 8:46 am Reply
  • Meredith

    OK yeah I am so going to have to try this sometime. Love you so much, Amy. Looking forward to Saturday <3

    February 10, 2015 at 8:45 am Reply
    • AmyK

      Meredith — I’m excited for Strictly Ballroom! :)

      February 11, 2015 at 8:46 am Reply
  • rachel

    Sorry to hear about the breakup. :(

    The pie looks amazing though.

    February 11, 2015 at 6:10 am Reply
    • AmyK

      Rachel — I guess if anything, it did inspire a pie!

      February 11, 2015 at 8:44 am Reply
  • The Blonde Chef

    While the circumstances around this pie are, of course, so sad. The pie itself is the epitome of romance! Love the delicate crust you created!

    February 11, 2015 at 4:48 pm Reply
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  • Susie

    Just a question–Is it really 7 cups of Bing cherries? It just seems like there would be more filling than

    would fit in the pie pan. Thanks for the recipe.

    March 24, 2015 at 11:23 am Reply
    • AmyK

      Susie — UPDATE: Oops! You are correct! I just consulted my old notes and it’s 3-4 cups of cherries, NOT 7. I will never know how I got 7 cups from 3-4 cups. I’ve updated the recipe! Thanks for calling me out on it!

      PREVIOUS: I know it seems like a lot, and honestly, it’ll LOOK like a lot when you heap it into the pie pan. But the cherries will shrink down significantly once it gets baking — mine were in a big mound before baking, and after baking it became the flat level pie that you see in the pictures. Trust your gut, though — if seven cups seems like way too much when you assemble your pie, cut it down. :)

      March 24, 2015 at 4:40 pm Reply
  • Jane

    Do you really use Bing cherries, which are sweet cherries? Because in your notes above, you say tart cherries, which are more typically used in pies.

    July 8, 2015 at 5:52 pm Reply
    • AmyK

      Jane — Sorry for the confusion! I’m still pretty much a novice when it comes to writing out my own recipes, haha. I personally used Bing cherries (since that’s all my grocery store’s freezer had) for this particular pie when I made it, but I plan to try it using sour cherries in the future as well. In other words, I’m pretty sure you can use either!

      July 13, 2015 at 8:34 am Reply

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