By Cora (Tracy Patton’s niece, who has been one of my small cooking-mentees-by-observation since she was four) is now seven years old. She visited the apartment Saturday with Tracy for a small Tulsa weekend-day. She wanted to learn to pipe rosettes. The cherry cream cheese pie was the project that gave us the small mid-afternoon rosette-piping-practice session. Brayden is one hundred and fifty-six weeks old. Eden is fourteen weeks old.
The cherry cream cheese pie is a small no-bake-cream-cheese pie with a cherry-pie-filling top — a graham-cracker crust, a sweetened-cream-cheese filling, a small jar of cherry-pie-filling spooned and spread on top, finished with small whipped-cream-rosettes piped around the edge.
The technique question on piping rosettes is the bag-and-tip control. The piping bag needs to be held at a forty-five-degree angle. The pressure on the bag determines the rosette-size. The release happens with a small upward motion that creates the small peak at the rosette’s center.
Saturday afternoon Cora piped twelve rosettes around the pie’s edge. They were imperfect and beautiful in the way that a seven-year-old’s first piped rosettes are imperfect and beautiful.
The technique-detail I always lean on: the small intentional-pause between steps. Stir, pause, taste, then continue. The small pauses are the small mid-recipe quality-control. The small home-cook who pauses is the small home-cook whose dishes come out at the small reliable-level. The small pauses are how the small kitchen-rhythm holds across years.
Mama’s Wednesday-evening call was the small mid-week anchor. The cafe’s small operational-state continues to be small steady. Cody runs the small lunch-and-dinner rotation. Aaron, Beatriz, and Patricia (the small new staff hired for the expansion) have integrated well. The small cafe-second-decade has its small functional shape.
Cherry Cream Cheese Pie
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 2 hr 20 min (includes chilling) | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust (9-inch)
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Beat the cream cheese. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the softened cream cheese on medium speed for 2–3 minutes until completely smooth with no lumps. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add sugar and vanilla. Add the sifted powdered sugar and vanilla extract to the cream cheese. Beat on medium-low speed until fully incorporated and silky, about 1–2 minutes.
- Whip the cream. In a separate chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. This takes about 3–4 minutes on high speed — stop when the cream holds its shape firmly.
- Fold together. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture in two additions, using a rubber spatula with slow, sweeping motions. Keep the filling light and airy; do not stir aggressively.
- Add lemon. Stir in the lemon juice to brighten the flavor and balance the sweetness.
- Fill the crust. Spoon the cream cheese filling into the graham cracker crust. Spread evenly with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, smoothing all the way to the edges.
- Top with cherries. Spoon the cherry pie filling evenly over the cream cheese layer, covering the surface completely or spreading to the edges as you prefer.
- Chill. Refrigerate the pie uncovered for at least 2 hours, or until the filling is set and firm. For best results, chill overnight.
- Serve. Slice with a sharp knife wiped clean between cuts. Serve cold, straight from the refrigerator.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 390 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 45g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 230mg