Cherry Almond Crumb Pie

This recipe was one of my Dad's favorites. It is made with a filling of sour cherries (in my opinion, the only kind of cherries a pie should be made with!) with an almond crumb topping. Fresh sour cherries are difficult to find and are only in season for a short time, so make this pie any time of year using canned Oregon Red Tart Cherries.

You will need one 9-inch unbaked pie shell. (I use Pillsbury in the refrigerator case.) Of course, you can make one from scratch too! I have also made this pie using a homemade shortbread crust and it's delicious!

For the filling:
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar*
3 T. cornstarch
2 cans Oregon Red Tart Cherries
1/4 t. almond extract
1 t. tapioca (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain the cherries and reserve the juice from only one can. In a sauce pan, stir the cherry juice into the combined mixture of the cornstarch and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Gently stir in cherries and almond extract. If you're worried your cherry filling might be too loose, add a little tapioca. Pour filling into pastry lined pie pan.

*Sugar may be increased to taste, but I only use 1/2 cup because I like the tartness of the cherries.

For the crumb topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. cinnamon
6 T. unsalted butter
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingers until crumbly (or cut in using a fork). Add the almonds. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the cherries and bake pie 30-40 minutes. (I bake in a 400 degree convection oven for 30 minutes.) Cool pie several hours to allow filling to thicken before slicing. Makes 8 servings.