Lime and Fresh Cherry Pie

1. Heat the oven to 400F / 200C
2. Line a 23cm/9in pie or tart tin with the shortcrust pastry, trim the edges and reserve and refrigerate the excess pastry. Line the bottom with baking paper then weigh it down with baking beans or dried rice. Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden.
3. Remove the paper and baking beans and cook the tart for a further 7 minutes. Remove from the oven but leave the oven on.

For the Cherry Pie Filling

1. Meanwhile, make the cherry pie filling: Remove the pits from the cherries with a pitter gadget (much easier!) or carefully with a knife.
2. Add the cherries to a large saucepan over a medium heat with the water, sugar, vanilla, most of the lime zest (reserve some for decoration) and the lime juice. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Pour in the cornstarch slurry and stir to combine. Bring back to the boil, then remove the pan from the heat. It will be thick but not overly gelatinous.

For the pie

1. Roll out the excess pastry and cut into desired shapes.
2. Pour the filling into the pie shell and top with the pastry shapes. Brush the pastry shapes with milk (dairy or non-dairy) and bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350F / 170C and cook for a further 30 minutes.
3. Allow the pie to cool for a few hours before serving cold. Keep in the refrigerator.