Icon Almond-Cherry Pie

2 cups frozen sour cherries
1 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup white flour
½ cup white sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 pie shell

On a recent Sunday afternoon we took a “Dense Cherry-Almond Coffeecake Pie” recipe from one of our favorite pie cookbooks and modified it to the Icon’s taste. That means we used lots less sugar, substituted half-and-half in place of full-fat sour cream and used only two eggs.

We also messed with the directions, as you will soon discover.

The result: The Icon Almond-Cherry Pie. We skimmed over the recipe directions, which directed the baker to place the cherries in the bottom layer of the piecrust and then dump everything on top of them.

Instead, we mixed all the ingredients, cherries, et al., – because it was a lot more fun. Then we dumped the ingredients into the waiting pie shell.

Here’s what’s next:

Once the oven reaches 350, place the pie on the bottom shelf and then bake for 50 minutes. Depending upon how you like the crust, place aluminum foil over the pie at about 30 minutes into the bake.

Allow this pie to sit for at least one hour, if you have the patience. Otherwise, it will be pretty runny. Then try not to eat the entire pie in one sitting. You might want to invite a friend over to share it.