Description
This Chocolate Cherry Black Forest Pie combines a rich cocoa sour cream crust with a tart cherry filling, topped with a lattice crust and finished with vanilla mascarpone whipped cream. It’s a decadent dessert perfect for parties or special occasions.
Ingredients
Scale
Chocolate Sour Cream Pie Crust
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter cut into 1 cm cubes and frozen
- ⅓ cup sour cream cold
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup cold water
Tart Cherry Pie Filling
- 1 ½ lbs tart cherries frozen, don’t defrost, about 6 cups
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons cherry liquor optional
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons coarse demerara sugar
Vanilla Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream cold
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup mascarpone cheese cold
- ¼ bar dark chocolate for shaving on top
Instructions
- Prepare pie crust: Combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and work it into the mixture until it resembles coarse peas. Mix in sour cream and vanilla extract. Gradually add cold water, about two tablespoons, mixing until the dough comes together. Flatten and fold the dough three times, then divide into two disks. Wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
- Prepare pie filling: Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C). In a large bowl, mix frozen tart cherries with sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, cherry liquor (if using), and almond extract. Chill in the fridge until ready to assemble.
- Roll out bottom crust: On a floured surface, roll out one dough disk to ¼ inch thickness. Transfer to a pie plate, allowing it to fit naturally without stretching.
- Add filling: Pour the cherry filling into the crust, including any juices and dry bits.
- Make lattice top: Roll out second dough disk and slice into 1.5 inch strips. Arrange them overlapping in a lattice pattern over the filling. Trim excess dough, leaving about 1 inch around the edge.
- Finish crust edges: Tuck the edges of the crust under and crimp with fingers or a fork to seal.
- Brush and sugar: Brush the top crust with heavy cream and sprinkle generously with coarse demerara sugar.
- Bake the pie: Place the pie on a larger baking sheet and bake in the lower oven rack for 75 minutes or until filling bubbles and crust is crisp. Tent with foil if edges brown too quickly.
- Cool pie: Allow the pie to cool until warm or room temperature before serving.
- Make whipped cream: In a large bowl or mixer, whip cold heavy cream, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt to medium-stiff peaks. Add mascarpone cheese and whip to stiff peaks. Use immediately or refrigerate up to 3 days.
- Serve: Spoon whipped cream over slices of pie and garnish with shaved dark chocolate using a vegetable peeler.
Notes
- You can prepare the pie and whipped cream a day ahead and store separately in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Store leftover pie covered in the fridge for up to 5 days; freezing is not recommended due to cornstarch thickener.
- For freezing, substitute cornstarch with arrowroot starch for better texture retention.
- Do not overwork the butter in the crust; keep it coarse and chunky for flakiness.
- Keep cherries frozen to make filling assembly easier and more manageable.
- Bake until the filling bubbles and the crust is crisp; tent with foil if the crust edges brown too quickly.
- Serve the pie warm for best texture with a tender yet crisp crust.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 420 kcal
- Sugar: 30 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated Fat: 15 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg
