Recipe: A Damn Fine Cherry Pie

At the RR Diner in the small town of Twin Peaks, Washington, they serve some damn fine coffee and a cherry pie that’ll kill yah. Now, you too can finally make waitress Shelly Johnson’s recipe at home. As the Twin Peaks series cult awaits a 2017 return to the Lynchian world of biker bars, backwards talking Red Rooms, and doughnuts (so many doughnuts) with Agent Cooper, a new cookbook is out now to sate appetites for some of the show’s most important recipes.

Compiled by Lindsey Bowden, uber fan and founder of the Twin Peaks festival in the UK, Damn Fine Cherry Pie features dozens of dishes inspired by scenes from the show from Betty Brigg’s meatloaf to Doc Hayward’s diet lasagna. Find, below, the headlining pie recipe that inspires agent Gordon Cole to pen an epic poem. You might too, after you try it.

Shelly Johnson’s Cherry Pie

Serves 8

For filling:

150 grams (generous 1⁄2 cup) cherry jam
150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar
1 1⁄2 tablespoons corn flour
3 tablespoons water or bourbon
1.25 kilograms (2 pounds 12 ounces) sweet cherries, pitted (750 grams/1 pound 10 ounces pitted weight)
1 large egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon water for glazing
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

For pastry:

450 grams (3 2⁄3 cups) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
50 grams (scant 1⁄2 cup) ground almonds
100 grams (generous 3⁄4 cup) icing sugar
Pinch of sea salt
250 grams (1 1⁄4 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
1 large egg
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extra
5 tablespoons water

For the pastry, place the flour, ground almonds, icing sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the butter and rub in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Beat the egg with the vanilla extract and measured water. Stir the liquid into the flour with a fork, then your fingers, and bring the mixture together to form a firm dough. Divide the dough in half, flatten each portion into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, place the jam and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then mix the cornflour and measured water or bourbon together and stir into the cherry mixture. Bring to the boil again, stirring all the time, until thickened. Remove from the heat, add the cherries, mix well and leave to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas Mark 6. Roll out one pastry disc on a lightly floured surface and use to line the base and sides of a greased 24-cm (9½-inch) pie dish (metal is best). Fill with the cherry mixture and brush the top of the pie edge with a little of the egg glaze.

Thinly roll out the remaining pastry disc and cut into long zig-zag shapes. Arrange them on top of the pie, pressing to stick them to the pie base around the edges.

Brush the pastry with more of the egg glaze and sprinkle over the sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes until the crust is golden, then reduce the temperature to 180°C (350°F), Gas Mark 4 and bake for a further 35–40 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is crisp, covering the pastry with foil, if necessary, to prevent it burning. Allow the pie to cool for about 1 hour before serving.

From DAMN FINE CHERRY PIE by Lindsey Bowden Copyright © 2016 by Lindsey Bowden. Reprinted courtesy of Harper Design, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

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