When I was very young, my birthday cake was different from other kids’ my age. Cherry pie was my all-time favorite dessert, so rather than a big slice of cake and a scoop of ice cream, Momma made a scrumptious cherry pie, and I always got to cut my own slice as long as I left enough for the rest of the family. That always included an older distant cousin who shared the same birthday as me – and also my love of cherry pie.
My birthday is May 30, traditional Memorial Day. Sometime back in the 1990s or so, the government changed Memorial Day to be the last Monday in May, so my birthday and all others born on May 30 only falls on what we consider the true Memorial Day once every seven years or so. This year, as it happens, my birthday and Memorial Day coincide, so guess what we’ll be having for dessert?
Cherry pie is not at the top of the list for Memorial Day desserts, but it can be quite patriotic if you add some blueberries and vanilla ice cream.
The problem with any pie is that it will only serve about eight people. That is, at most people’s homes. At mine it will serve six, or, if it’s cherry pie it will serve more like four or five. So what I like about this recipe is that it’s made in a 9- by 13-inch baking dish and will serve a crowd. That makes it all the more perfect for a Memorial Day gathering.
Buy a ready-made pie crust, or make your own and line the baking dish with the crust, saving any scraps so that you can cut little stars and stripes out of the pastry to decorate the top. You’ll make two separate fillings and arrange them so that the blueberry filling goes where the stars are on the flag, and the cherries go where the stripes are.