CHERRY SLAB PIE

If you’re bringing a dessert for a crowd, consider making this slab pie. Made in one large tray, it feeds plenty and I always bring it in the pan it was baked in, so it’s easy to pop back in the oven to reheat. You can make it all year round by using frozen cherries.

SERVES 12-16 For the pastry ★

250g cold unsalted butter, diced, plus extra for greasing

★ 430g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

★ ½ tsp fine sea salt

★ 45g caster sugar

★ 60ml-90ml cold water

For the filling

★ 1kg pitted cherries

★ 130g caster sugar

★ 15g cornflour

★ juice of ½ lemon

★ 2 tsp balsamic vinegar

To finish ★ ★

1 egg, beaten demerara sugar

1 To make the pastry, put all of the ingredients except the water into a bowl and give it a quick mix to coat the butter in the flour. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a coarse mixture with some pieces of butter a little larger than peas. 2 Make a well in the centre and pour in 60ml water. Use a table knife to stir to get a shaggy dough. If it still looks dry, add more water a tablespoon at a time. You don’t want a sticky dough, so don’t add too much. Turn out the dough on to a very lightly floured surface and use your hands to bring it together into a thick, rough rectangle. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours or until firm. 3 Lightly grease a 33cm x 23cm cake tin (or use a baking tray with sides about 2.5cm high). Divide the chilled dough into 2 pieces, one a little bigger than the other (about a 60/40 split). Lightly dust the work surface and roll out the bigger piece about 4cm bigger than your pan. Line the pan with this pastry, pressing it into the edges and leaving an overhang of pastry around the rim.

4 If you’re using frozen cherries, thaw completely and discard two-thirds of any liquid that’s released. Put all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl and mix to combine. Fill the pastry-lined pan with this mixture. Roll out the second piece of dough and lay it on top of the cherries. Pinch the edges of the top and bottom crust together to seal and use your fingers to crimp.

5 Chill the pie in the fridge for 30 minutes (or the freezer for 15). 6 Preheat the oven to 210C/ 190C fan/gas 61/2 and put a large baking sheet inside to heat up. Brush the surface of the pie with the beaten egg and sprinkle generously with demerara sugar. Make 4 small slits in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape and place it directly on the hot baking sheet in the oven (this will help to cook the base evenly).

7 Bake the pie for 20 minutes before lowering the oven temperature to 190C/170C fan/ gas 5. Continue to bake for 45-50 minutes until it is deeply golden and the cherry juices are bubbling. Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

Make ahead

Make up to 1 day ahead.