By Alison Roman
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- 4(272)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Cherries in winter may sound counterintuitive, but like frozen peas and corn, frozen cherries are, well, pretty good. Baked on a bed of easy press-in crust, the boozy cherries sink into the almost-frangipane mixture which soaks up much of the juiciness cherries are known for. The trick to a nice, crunchy bottom tart shell is baking longer than you think, so make sure you give it the full time recommended.
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 10 servings
- 1⅔cups/215 grams all-purpose flour
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt
- ¾cup/170 grams unsalted butter (1½ sticks), melted
- 1cup/90 grams walnut pieces or halves (or use almonds)
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
- ¼cup plus ⅓ cup/115 grams granulated sugar, plus more for finishing the tart
- 5tablespoons/40 grams all-purpose flour
- Kosher salt
- 1large egg
- 1pound/455 grams pitted cherries, thawed if frozen
- 2tablespoons bourbon
- 2tablespoons finely grated orange zest
For the Crust
For the Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
404 calories; 21 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 48 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 25 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 297 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Make the crust: Mix flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Pour butter over the dry ingredients and, using your hands, mix together until you’ve got a Play-Doh-like texture.
Step
2
Press crust into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. (Alternatively, use a 9-inch cake pan lined with parchment; the crust can go about ¾ inch up the sides of the pan.) Set aside.
Step
3
Make the filling: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet until well browned and fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes; remove from heat and let cool.
Step
4
Pulse walnuts, butter, ¼ cup/50 grams sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and a pinch of kosher salt in a food processor until finely ground. Add the egg and pulse just to blend. Spread walnut mixture on the bottom of the prepared crust.
Step
5
Toss cherries with bourbon, orange zest, remaining ⅓ cup/65 grams sugar, remaining 3 tablespoons flour and a pinch of salt. Scatter cherries over the walnut mixture and sprinkle with a bit more sugar to finish.
Step
6
Place tart on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil and bake until the crust is golden brown at the edges and the cherries are thick and saucy, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool at least 30 minutes before removing from the pan and slicing. (If you can wait an hour to let the juices fully settle, even better.)
Ratings
4
out of 5
272
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Cooking Notes
Julia
What kind of cherries? Tart or sweet? Canned or frozen better?
Sue
Sweet cherries; 1/3 c. sugar wouldn't be enough to make tart cherries palatable for many people, and the flavor combinations here are designed for sweet cherries.
garlicgurl
Good dish, made as written, and took Alison’s rec for using almonds. Nice filling! Frozen sweet cherries are used and no, the sugar called for is not too much. The crust is easy, but I’d use 1t salt only next time.
Lynda H.
Recipe states walnuts or almonds. Per the King Arthur Flour Ingredient Weight Chart, 1 cup chopped walnuts weighs the same as 1 cup slivered almonds, so you should be able to do a straight substitution. (KAF weight chart is a great resource: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart)
Queen V
Could one rehydrate dried cherries for this recipe?
Louise Giovanella
Haven't made this yet, but I notice it doesn't specify tart or sweet cherries, but the photo appears to show sweet cherries. Certainly there would be a difference in the amount of sugar needed depending on which type you use.
native NYer
I'm going to reconstitute the dried tart cherries in bourbon (!) Then drink all but the 2 Tbs. It will have a stronger bourbon flavor. Can this be wrong...?Will let you know if this is a good idea...
Stephanie Klassen
Pecans have a similar crumbly texture to walnuts, so they’d make a good substitute. almonds would be fine, but you should probably grind them a little finer since they are much harder.
Maggie
I made this with unblanched almonds and sour cherries I'd pitted and frozen in the summer. For our tastes, less sugar was needed rather than more, and I used 1 1/2 T. cornstarch instead of flour in the cherries, yielding a brighter, translucent red. Rum instead of bourbon, and a drop of almond extract in the cherries. An all-butter traditional pie crust tasted delicious and cooked up crisp, but would have been more tender, I think, with a little shortening substituted for some of the butter.
jordan
Made this in lock down when frozen stuff is in high demand and I couldn’t find cherries. Used half frozen cranberries and half frozen mixed berries which worked perfectly in terms of tartness/sweetness. The walnut flavor still paired perfectly (I forgot to put the flour in walnut part and I think it was still good lol).
RS
Should the crust not be parbaked?
ohoolahoop
Crust a bit too salty, otherwise a keeper
Sya Renee
Excellent! Took to a Christmas dinner celebration with friends! Fantastic end to a prime rib meal! I added less salt to the crust and will add even less next time - maybe just a half teaspoon. I added vanilla to the crust but not sure it was necessary. I added 1/8 teaspoon of almond extract to the cherries. I didn't have any oranges, so I used about 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon with the cherries. Topped with bourbon whipped cream that also had vanilla and Luxardo Cherry Liquor. Will make again!
sub in brown sugar
Cool butter before mixing for first layer
sub in brown sugar
This turned out to be delicious but I as concerned going in to the oven! The first layer was very liquid- not at all like play doh! I let it sit in the pan for a while and it did thicken up once the butter cooled. The second layer was a dickens to get out of my food processor and next time I will make more to compensate for the loss. The cherry layer was delicious as instructed. Excellent served ala mode!
Courtney W
This recipe is amazing! The finished product is delicious. I can’t stop eating it and my friends love it! Thank you!!
Leslie T
Made it mostly following the recipe as-is. My husband is allergic to walnuts, so I toasted slivered almonds, instead. I also had some vanilla sugar, from Penzey's, so substituted that for about 1/4 of any sugar amount. I had sweet cherries frozen from last summer, which worked well. I did reduce the salt in the crust to 1 tsp. We all enjoyed it and I'll probably make it again!
Jen
My son choose this from a list I gave him for Thanksgiving. Best dessert I've ever made.
Joan
So good! Second time, we used cranberries and almonds instead of cherries and walnuts. So good! Thank you.
PEB
'Delicious' says our group of 4; we nearly ate the whole thing! I decreased the sugar by 2 T. It wasn't missed. Enjoy!
Boots
Thinking about filling a cake with this pie filling, any thoughts or opinions from those of you that have made it? Thanks in advance!
Jessica
I used frozen, defrosted sweet cherries and took away a good amount of the liquid, perhaps leaving 2TBS before the bourbon.I used all the salt called for and I thought it was fine in the crust. I like salt though! I will be making this again as it was quite easy and unique!
Kat
This tart was absolutely delicious and turned out perfectly. I used Washington cherries, picked and frozen this summer, used lemon zest since I had no oranges on hand, and bourbon that already had fruit soaking in it in the fridge for a couple weeks. I cut the salt in the crust to 1/2 tsp. (thanks for the recommendation) and cut the sugar in the cherries to 1/4 cup. I plan to make it again for Thanksgiving!
PAM
Great, fun to make, easy recipe. Subbed lemon zest because I had no oranges, and used fresh sweet cherries. Tasty!
Meliforniaroll
Used pecans instead of walnuts and was generous with the orange zest. So delicious!! We had it with really good old fashioned vanilla ice cream.
Karen
Could I substitute hazel nuts?
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