This summer has been a hot one with multiples days in the high 80’s and even low 90’s degrees F. I’d wanted to get back into baking in the weeks since giving birth to my daughter. However, our broken a/c was having me reluctant to turn the oven on.
That said, our grill works great and my husband has been using it to cook our dinners all summer. I knew it was possible to bake on the grill, but I’d never even turned on a grill and was reluctant to try. Lack of sleep from being up with baby had my brain fried and learning something new didn’t sound the most appealing.
However, by August I was itching to bake again and wanting to use up the frozen cherries in my freezer that I’d ordered from northern Michigan last year. I settled on instructing my husband on what grill temperatures I needed while watching him to at least get the pie made. Next time I hope to actually work the grill while he supervises me.
Cherry Pie on the Grill: A Summary
- Type of pan: Cast Iron
- Type of crust: All butter. I prefer the simple recipe for All Buttah Pie Dough by Erin Jeanne McDowell. Since I was doing a lattice top with the crust rather than crumb, I made a double batch of the recipe.
- Type of filling: Tart cherries. I order them every July from Pickering Hill Farms in Avon, OH. They ship them in from northern Michigan during the peak of the season. I like the simple filling recipe from the book Pie School, which really highlights the fruit without adding too much sugar or extras to the filling. That said, I find that I often double the spices I add.
The only alteration I made from the above recipes was to cook the tart cherry filling on the stove ahead of time in order to thicken it. I find that frozen cherries release tons of liquid when baked.
Otherwise, grilling the pie largely mimicked the directions for baking in the oven. The only difference is that heat came from the bottom rather than the back. While my crust baked through just fine, next time I might bake the cast iron on top of a pizza stone for even more browning on the bottom.