Agent Cooper's favourite Cherry Pie from Twin Peaks

Does the Log Lady means anything to you? If so, you were probably a Twin Peaks fan from way back. Not everyone tuned in to watch David Lynch's dark, disturbing but also very comical and sensual TV series called Twin Peaks. However I was most definitely a Peakie or Peaker and stayed until the very end never missing an episode and would float away to the fictional smalltown in Washington to the strains of the haunting and evocative song "Falling" (and as I write this, I am listening to it).

The one dish that always had me salivating was the Cherry Pie at Norma's RR Diner. FBI Agent Cooper  would always order a cup of coffee and a slice of Cherry Pie whenever he'd visit the diner. "Coop" was one of my favourite TV characters ever and I like to pretend that Kyle McLachlan stopped acting after Twin Peaks. His roles as the impotent Trey McDougal and emasculated Orson Hodge completely lack any sort of sex appeal.

As for this tea set, I brought up the Log Lady earlier for a reason. I received this tea set from my parents for my birthday. The minute I saw it, I knew it had to be mine and when they asked me what I wanted I pointed them squarely in this direction. They're from an online store called Have You Met Miss Jones and are made of the most gorgeous bone china with a detailed "driftwood" pattern although I just thought of the Log Lady and Snow White in the forest when I saw it. And of course another item that I got for my birthday was from Suze - an adorable stand Mixer timer (which I feel Norma would have used).

Now that Twin Peaks has been released on DVD I can dance dreamily to the music in the privacy of my imaginary Great Northern Hotel room accompanied by the Agent Cooper, Audrey, Andy, Donna, the log lady, the giant and the dwarf. And we're all eating Cherry Pie.

Agent Cooper's Cherry Pie from Twin Peaks

An original recipe by Not Quite Nigella

Pie crust

• 2 1/4 cups plain flour

• 3/4 cup cold butter plus an extra tablespoon (210 grams total)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup Iced water (scant)

• 1 lightly buttered pie plate

Filling:

• 3 cups sour cherries, pitted and drained

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

• finely grated zest from 1/2 lemon

• 2 tablespoons milk for pastry glaze

Step 1 - Make shortcrust pastry ahead of time as the key to pastry is relaxing the dough. In a food processor combine all ingredients except for the iced water and whizz together briefly. Then add iced water until it starts to come together and then empty the contents of the processor onto a board and knead briefly. Separate into two rounds, one round using 2/3 of the dough and then another one using the remaining 1/3 of the dough. Cover in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.

Step 2 - Take your pie plate. Roll out the larger round of pastry to fit the glass plate. Then roll out smaller one into an oval shape and cut into strips to make lattice pattern and place on a clean plate. Place both the glass pie plate and the lattice strip plate in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes-this is important to prevent pastry shrinkage (you could do the pastry ahead of time and refrigerate it).

Step 3 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Place foil on top of the pastry snugly but gently against the pastry (the foil helps prevent the pastry from puffing up too much). Weigh it down with ceramic weights or dried beans or rice and blind bake for 25 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes.

Step 4 - Mix the filling ingredients in a large bowl until well incorporated. Place on top of prebaked pastry and then decorate with lattice strips. Brush pastry with milk. Lay the pie dish on top of a baking tray (sometimes the cherries spill over a little) and bake for 35 minutes until golden. Serve a la mode with vanilla ice cream.

The Log Lady