Back in 2011 when I was pregnant with Squirrel, I was put on bed rest for the last couple months of my pregnancy. So, I did what any sensible person would do, and I binge watched old television shows. I started with shows that I missed out on when I was a teenager because I was out doing fun stuff, (just kidding, I was really home reading); specifically, a super popular show from the 90’s called Twin Peaks.

Twin Peaks is the early 90’s masterpiece created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. It centers around the murder investigation of  small town homecoming queen Laura Palmer. FBI agent Dale Cooper heads the investigation and as time goes on the focus of the show is not only to catch the killer but the other goings-on of  the strange townsfolk in Twin Peaks. The show walks the line between picturesque small town life and the sinister things that occur just below the surface.

One recurring theme in the series is Dale Cooper’s love of the local Cherry Pie. He claims the cherry pie from the double R diner is “where cherry pie goes to die”.  Cherry Pie appears in some way in every episode. In the 90’s people were gathering to watch this show and serving cherry pie and coffee as refreshments!

At the risk of sounding like I am reading too much into this, I feel like the cherry pie is a sugary sweet reminder of the “all-American” illusion that the town of Twin Peaks (and Laura Palmer, herself) tries to project. It is this bit of Americana that exists to contrast how bizarre the people of Twin Peaks really are. A place where the pretty, popular, Prom Queen (a picture of American idealism) was involved in some very crazy things. By placing the pie in every episode it not only makes the townsfolk seem that much more disturbed but also serves to remind us of how Laura Palmer is definitely not the girl we thought she was.  Regardless of the reason behind its prevalence in the show it seemed definitely worth making!

During my research I looked into what the typical diner cherry pie consisted of. I also looked at footage and photos from the show to give me a better idea of what I was trying to achieve. It seems that the Double R served a standard, double crust cherry pie. Based on this I knew I could go the route of just using a can of filling poured into a crust and call it a day, however, the real life diner that served as the Double R in the series claims that theirs are made on site everyday from scratch (reviews claim otherwise but who knows?).

Now,  I am not a from-scratch-pie-crust kind of girl. I am actually terrified of pastry dough; working with it intimidates me on a base level.   So I took the easy way out and bought some store bought pie dough that I only had to fit over the pie plate and cut to fit. If you’re the ambitious type that isn’t scared of pie dough then I say go for it! However, if you’re more like me than using the kind out of a box is fine too.

For the filling, I decided to go at least one step beyond canned but, wanted to keep it simple and diner-ish. I looked at several pie filling recipes dating back decades that I could mix, match and adapt to fit what I was looking for.

It’s cherry season so I totally wanted to use fresh cherries! I bought a cherry pitter, which ended up being the best thing ever but, I have used other stand-ins (like an unbent paperclip) in the past with no problems. After washing and pitting the cherries I mixed them up in a bowl with the sugar and the cornstarch and let them sit for a while to let the juices start to flow.

I then heated the mixture over medium heat until it started to thicken. My cherries took a little while to get going with this and so I used a potato masher a few times to really get the juice to start coming out.  Eventually my cherries got really juicy and I was a little worried about when or if the thickening would happen but I did notice it got a little thicker and so I moved on to filling my pie shell.

I used a ladle to get the cherries out first with minimal juice so that my pie would be filled with fruit and not a soggy juicy mess due to too much juice. I then added the juice a bit at a time to fill in the gaps around the fruit until the shell was filled.  Later, I used any leftover juice in my ice cream maker to make some cherry chip ice cream! Once the shell was full I just rolled and cut the pre-made pie dough to make the top crust and baked.

I waited for it to cool a bit before cutting (again, because I was scared excess juice might somehow ruin the crust)

Once I tasted it, I totally understood Dale Cooper’s infatuation with cherry pie. It was delicious, and sweet but, not too sweet. The crust had a good texture and really worked well with the sweetness of the filling. Delicious. Overall, this pie would have fit in perfectly as a staple in the Double R Diner; served best with a hot cup of coffee.

Twin Peaks Cherry Pie

9 inch ready made pie crust (or use your favorite crust recipe)

7-8 cups Fresh Cherries

2 1/2 cups Sugar

5 Tbs Cornstarch

1. Trim bottom pie crust to fit pie pan according to directions.
2. Wash, drain and pit cherries.
3. Combine sugar and cornstarch.
4. Stir in cherries and let stand to let juices begin to flow (at least 30 minutes)
5. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken.
6. Ladle filling (fruit first!) into pie crust and then add juice until full.
7. Cover with top crust and vent.
8. Bake  at 375 for 45 minutes, wrap edges of pie with foil if they brown too fast.
9. Let cool before cutting.