Deliciously sweet with just enough tartness to add depth of flavour, we love Cherry Pie! Served with cream, ice cream or custard, it’s a firm favourite at any family meal or special occasion.
Often it can be difficult to eat up the whole pie before it goes stale so you must be wondering can you freeze cherry pie leftovers?
Can You Freeze Cherry Pie?
Yes, you can freeze cherry pie. Cherry pie can be frozen for around 6 months. It can be frozen both baked and unbaked. You can even freeze leftover cherry pie portions. If freezing unbaked, then try to use it up within 3 months. (Full instructions for Baked and Unbaked below.)
Do Does Cherry Pie freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Cherry Pie? Not Recommended
Looking for a full list of Thanksgiving foods you can freeze? Here it is!
How To Freeze Cherry Pie
As we mentioned already you can freeze cherry pie in a variety of ways so letās dive in and take a look at how:
How to Freeze Baked Cherry Pie
This is the most common method for freezing as it is more common to have leftovers or want to have a baked pie in the freezer ready to go when you need it.
- Cool
Bake your pie and let it cool completely. If you have leftovers make sure you allow them to cool completely before freezing as well. - Portion and Protect
If you want to freeze the cherry pie in portions then divide it up. Wrap each portion in cling film then pop a portion of cherry pie into a freezer bag or container. If you want to freeze a whole pie then wrap it several times in cling film to protect it and then pop it into a large freezer bag if you can. - Label and Freeze
Label the bags or containers with the date and the contents and pop them into the freezer and freeze.
How to Freeze Unbaked Cherry Pie
Freezing unbaked cherry pie is a little trickier but it is still easy enough to do.
- Prepare Your Pie
Prepare your cherry pie in the tin you eventually plan to bake it in. You need to ensure that this tin is freezer safe as it will be going into the freezer for a short time. Before you prepare the pie in the tin, add a layer of parchment or cling film to make sure you can get the pie out again easily. - Protect and Freeze
Wrap your unbaked cherry pie including the tin in several layers of cling film. Add a layer of tin foil over this to add to the protection and then pop it into the freezer to freeze. This is likely to take several hours. - Unmould and Rewrap
The next day, take the cherry pie out of the tin. It should be frozen so you can handle it with ease. Wrap the unbaked pie in several layers of clingfilm and if you can pop it into a freezer bag. - Refreeze
Label the bag with the date and contents and pop it back into the freezer until you need it.
How to Freeze Cherry Pie Filling
If you donāt want to freeze the whole pie then you can just make and freeze the cherry pie filling so that you can use it whenever you need and make your pastry fresh. To do this you need to follow this method.
- Prepare Your Filling
Make or buy the filling. If you have made it then allow it to cool before freezing. - Portion
Pop the filling into a suitable container with a lid or into a freezer bag that can be sealed well. It can be helpful to divide the cherry pie filling into portions and freeze in separate bags. This means you can grab out the exact amount you need from the freezer. - Seal
Seal the bag or container and add a label with the date and contents. - Freeze
Put the cherry pie filling into the freezer and freeze.
3 Tips for Freezing Cherry Pie
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing cherry pie to have the best results:
- Freeze It Baked – By freezing it baked, you save yourself time in future as the cherry pie is ready to go. If you freeze it unbaked (which is already more challenging), you need to wait for it to thaw before baking it.
- Cook from Frozen – Reheat the pie in the oven, from frozen, until it is piping hot throughout. There’s no need to thaw it beforehand!
- Label It Clearly – If you have made lots of fruit pies then make sure you label them clearly. If you’re feeling arty, you could also cut out cherry shapes in pastry and place this on top of the pie lid to make it even more obvious.
How Long Can You Freeze Cherry Pie?
Pie is one of those desserts that freeze fairly well and can be kept in the freezer for quite a long time. However, there is a difference between baked and unbaked pie so you need to take that into account.
We would suggest that you try and use baked cherry pie within about six months of freezing but if you need to then you should be safe to freeze the pie for up to eight months. The unbaked cherry pie should only be kept in the freezer for up to three months.
How Do You Defrost Cherry Pie?
You have a couple of methods you can use to defrost your cherry pie but this will depend on how you froze it. So letās take a look at the differences.
Unbaked cherry pie should be defrosted before cooking to allow it to bake well and evenly. To do this you can take it out of the freezer and pop it into the fridge to defrost overnight.
Baked cherry pie can be thawed out using the same method but you can also defrost and heat it up in the oven if you prefer. This speeds up the process but donāt forget to adjust the heating times to account for it being frozen.
Make sure the pie is piping hot throughout before serving to minimise any safety risks.
Can You Refreeze Cherry Pie?
We would not recommend that you refreeze cherry pie once you have frozen and thawed it out. The pastry just wonāt be as nice!
Freezing always changes food in slight ways and although pastry can be frozen fairly successfully it will still degrade in quality if frozen and thawed out multiple times.
Does Cherry Pie Freeze Well?
Cherry pie does freeze well. If you choose to freeze your cherry pie unbaked then you shouldnāt notice any difference at all by the time you cook the pie. It will taste as fresh as it would have done the day you made it.
Baked and reheated pie may suffer some texture changes but will still be delicious to eat.
FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing cherry pie or cherry pie in general, then these may help:
Cherry pie slices can be frozen but we would only recommend doing so with baked pie slices. Simply wrap each slice in clingfilm followed by foil and then freeze in a thick freezer bag.
Yes! This method for freezing cherry pies can be applied to all fruit pies including apple, rhubarb and plum pies. Your main focus should be on ensuring it is stored airtight with plenty of layers of protection. You can never wrap your pie too much!
Treat gravy containing dairy the same as the cream-based ones explained above.
Gravy can be stored safely in the refrigerator for three to four days.
