With a little bit of love... and whipping cream

We made these sweet little cherry pies last night, but first, the book that inspired them!

A Little Bit of Love 

by Cynthia Platt

 

(As a quick aside, can I just say I love the feel of Tiger Tales books? I mean literally the way they feel. They use high quality paper and little tactile embellishments, even on the paperback versions. On the cover of this one, the mice are actually fuzzy. Anyhoo...) This sweet little story is a perfect one to pull out for Valentine's Day. A small mouse asks her mama for something "sweet and new to nibble." Her mama knows just the thing made with "a little bit of love," and so they set off around the farm to gather the ingredients for little mouse's surprise. At each stop, mama mouse explains how each ingredient (honey from the bees, milk from the cows) has a little bit of love in it. They return to their home and bake huckleberry pies, filling them with the love of making something together.

I can't say I even know what huckleberries are, so we settled on making some mini cherry pies. I used my favorite pie crust recipe and the babycakes pie maker my sister bought me for Christmas.

It was my first attempt at cherry pies - and the pie maker - but I had high hopes. Oh these are going to turn out so cute!

Ummmm... not so much.

At least my helper was cute!

Surely there's a way to salvage these... ah, yes. Much better!

They were still very tasty and fairly easy to make. You could try them in muffin tins if your sister didn't buy you a babycakes pie maker for Christmas.

Mini Cherry Pie Filling
(adapted from this Food Network recipe)

• 2 cups fresh pitted cherries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoons cornstarch
• zest from one lemon
• a dash of lemon juice

Cook the pitted cherries and 1 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, stir the sugar and cornstarch together until lumps are removed. Add the sugar-cornstarch mixture and lemon zest to the pot. Bring to a rolling boil and cook one minute. Cool before adding to crusts.


Disclaimer: A Little Bit of Love was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tales Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review. I only share with you GOOD books! :)