Bake fresh cherry filling on top of this easy 5-minute pie dough and you’ve got yourself a delicious cherry dessert that any novice baker can master — Rustic Cherry Tart.

I’m in love with Summer fruit pies, especially free-form rustic tarts, also known as galettes. You can make them with homemade or refrigerated pie dough. The best part is there’s no fuss trying to fit the crust into a pie pan and you don’t have to worry about making perfectly crimped edges.

With this Rustic Cherry Tart recipe, you simply roll out the dough, layer on the filling, and fold the dough over the fruit and bake. Truly, it is easy as pie!

Whoever coined that phrase must have known about my favorite 5-minute pie dough! (Minus the chilling time, of course.)

Rustic Cherry Tart

You don’t have to be a pastry chef or expert at forming perfect pie crusts because the free-form crust is what makes this tart rustic — and charming, too, right? Fresh sweet Bing cherries in a buttery crust — how can you beat that?

You could make this tart with a store-bought refrigerated pie dough, but making it fresh is really so much better.

The first time I made this pie dough, I was amazed at how quickly it came together and how easy it was to make. If I can do it, I know you can, too!

Life is just a bowl of cherries
Don’t take it serious; it’s too mysterious!

Making the pie dough

No matter what pie dough recipe you use, always remember two things: COLD butter and ICE water.

Why? Using cold butter and ice water in the dough helps ensure the butter doesn’t start to melt as you are prepping the dough. And little bits of butter in the dough make a flaky crust in the end.

Putting the butter in the freezer for a few minutes before you mix up the pie dough is a good idea, too.

1. Place the flour, salt, and sugar into the bowl of a food processor and pulse just a few times to blend it up.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces and sprinkle over the top of the flour mixture.
3. Pulse a few seconds — just until the butter is slightly broken into the flour, but still in visible pieces.
4. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture and process just until the dough starts to come together. Don’t over do it!
5. Dump the dough into a gallon-size ziplock plastic bag and seal the top. Gently press the dough together in the bag to form a flat disc, being careful again not to over do it so the dough doesn’t warm up from the heat in your hands.
6. Place the disc in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
7. When you are ready to assemble the tart, roll the dough out on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper into a 14-inch circle. Transfer the parchment paper to a baking sheet and layer with the tart filling.

Cherry tart filling

Unlike some cherry pies, the filling for this tart doesn’t need to be cooked before baking the tart. Here’s all you need to do:

1. Remove the pits from fresh cherries and place the cherries in a bowl.
2. Add sugar, cornstarch, and a squeeze of lemon juice, and toss until the cherries are coated.
3. Spoon the cherries onto the pie dough, leaving about 2 inches around the perimeter.
4. Fold the edges of dough over the cherries, overlapping to form the tart “shell”.
5. Brush the dough with an egg wash and bake until golden.

What cherries are best for baking?

My favorite cherries for this recipe are fresh Bing sweet cherries. They don’t require a lot of extra sugar which means the filling doesn’t get too watery and make the crust soggy.

Also, don’t add the sugar to the fruit until JUST before you’re ready to assemble the tart to avoid extra juices releasing.

To make this recipe, you may need…

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Creating a tart does take a little effort,  but it’s really easy with the right kitchen tools. I use my food processor to easily prep my pie crust and love this OXO Cherry pitter — it’s one of my very favorite kitchen gadgets!

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More cherry dessert recipes!

Fresh summer cherries are the best for making delicious desserts! Here are a few I think you may enjoy:

• Cherry Cobbler
• Cherry Chocolate Chunk Bread
• Cherry Cake with Buttermilk Powdered Sugar Glaze
• Cherry Pot Pies
• Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars
• More dessert recipes!

Let’s bake!

 I love that this crust is mixed in a food processor and then dumped into a large zip lock bag and chilled. By placing the dough in the bag, you can squeeze it into a disc without getting messy hands — no fuss and no mess!

Also, you may enjoy trying this tart recipe with other fruit, like peaches, blueberries, or apples. Enjoy!

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