Cherry Pie | Twin Peaks
They got a cherry pie there that’ll kill ya!
Agent Dale Cooper
Twin Peaks
A second remake of this fabulous Twin Peaks inspired cherry pie. I’ve had a request from Gammon Creations to make a number of diner-style desserts for their upcoming video game with a restaurant aesthetic. It will include accessing recipes and whatnot as you go through it. Super keen to have my recipes and creations as part of the game!
When I was asked my mind went pretty quickly to Twin Peaks, and the pie i had already made previously - but unfortunately burnt. This version is much nicer, with a tarty, intense filling that, much like Agent Cooper would say, will kill ya!
I, like many I am sure, have a special place in my heart for Twin Peaks. It was introduced to me by an ex. Despite the ex being quite awful, Twin Peaks is something that stayed with me. I can’t even think about how many times I’ve watched the first two seasons, when the third season was announced I got a tad excited and ended up going out and getting a Twin Peaks dedicated tattoo in celebration. No regrets.
Anyway, below is a recipe for a cherry pie that may just kill ya. Enjoyed best with a cup of black coffee and a mystery to solve.
*Note: if using fresh cherries make sure they are all pitted. If using canned or jarred, make sure they are well drained.
Cinnamon Rolls
Makes one 9” pie
Ingredients
Pie case
500g plain flour
2 tbsp raw caster sugar
200g butter, cold
180ml water, ice-cold
Pinch salt
Filling
1kg cherries *see note
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp corn flour
’Egg wash’
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp milk
Pie case
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Using your fingers to rub the cold butter into the flour mixture until it resembles wet sand.
Made a well in the middle of the flour and butter mixture and pour in the ic water. Mix until it comes together as a firm dough. Wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes minimum to chill.
Filling
Combine the filling ingredients, and mix to ensure that the corn flour has coated all the cherries evenly. Place to the side.
Preheat your oven to 180C. Using a little butter or vegetable oil, grease a pie case well and place to the side.
Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to a thickness of around 2 cms and gently place into the prepared pie case, pressing it down into the edges and letting the excess hang over the sides of the case.
Fill your prepared pie case with the cherry filling you made. Cut off the excess pie dough that is hanging from the edge of the case, and use your fingers to press the remaining dough into a crust around the edge.
Combine the maple syrup and milk together and use this to brush the pie crust as an ‘egg wash’. Place the pie into the oven for 20 minutes, before reducing the heat to 180C and baking for an additional 30 - 40 minutes. The filling should be bubbling, while the crust around the edges should be a golden brown.
Remove the pie from the oven when done, leave to cool before serving and enjoy!
Cinnamon Rolls | In Cold Blood
The travellers stopped for dinner at a restaurant in Great Bend. Perry, down to his last fifteen dollars, was ready to settle for root beer and a sandwich, but Dick said no, they needed a solid 'tuck-in', and never mind the cost, the tab was his. They ordered two steaks medium rare, baked potatoes, French fries, fried onions, succotash, side dishes of macaroni and hominy, salad with Thousand Island dressing, cinnamon rolls, apple pie and ice-cream, and coffee.
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote
In Cold Blood is renowned for being possibly the best crime novel ever written, and there’s a reason behind that. It is such a compelling read and demands your attention after every page. I read this book probably almost a year ago and was reminded of it when I noticed it balancing precariously at the top of a book pile at a local opshop.
There are a number of interesting meals within its pages, notably the last meal that Richard and Perry choose. I think though, I was interested in the idea of what they would have eaten on their journey - and the almost calculated and calmness that comes with a meal like that. Instead of making their entire dinner I chose to just make the cinnamon rolls. Partly because I have just, so much bread flour to use up. And also because cinnamon rolls are delicious and I generally can eat around 5 in one sitting.
The road trip journey is something that I did recently (not with murderous intentions), taking a long weekend to go and stay at a tiny air bnb that had been built on the bush property I grew up on in rural Victoria. We had no wifi or phone reception for our time there and spent all of it reading books, drinking wine, and watching seasons of Xena.
Cinnamon Rolls
Makes approx. 9 rolls
Ingredients
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp caster sugar
275ml water, lukewarm
100ml milk, lukewarm
525g bread flour + 2 tbsp for dusting later
2 tsp salt
60g butter
Filling
60g butter, softened
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Glaze
2-3 tbsp milk
400gm icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Combine the lukewarm water, milk, yeast, and sugar together in a bowl. Leave to sit for 5 minutes or until the yeast becomes frothy.
In another bowl mix together the flour and salt, pour in the frothy yeast mixture and combine until a rough dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and begin kneading. As you do so begin kneading the 60g of butter into the dough.
Continue kneading for about 10 minutes or until the dough has become soft and elastic like. Place the prepared dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and place into a warm place for around an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
While the dough is rising is a perfect time to make your filling. Combine the softened butter, brown sugar, and ground cinnamon together and mix. Put to the side.
Remove the doubled dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and gently roll the dough out until it is a few cm’s thick, and in a rough rectangular shape. Spread the butter / cinnamon filling onto the rolled out dough, evenly spreading it across.
From the longest side of the rectangle begin to tightly roll the dough up into a spiral. Once it is all rolled up use a sharp knife to evenly cut rolls that are 1 1/2” thick. You should get about 9 rolls from it in total. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the prepared rolls on it, with the spiral facing outwards. Cover with a damp paper towel and leave for another hour to rise again.
While the cinnamon rolls are doing their second rise, preheat the oven to 180C. When the rolls have risen again, place them into the oven to bake. They should take around 15 - 20 minutes, depending how gooey you like your cinnamon rolls.
Leave them to cool, and make your glaze while they do. Combine the milk, icing sugar and vanilla and mix until it reaches the consistency you prefer. Drizzle over the cinnamon rolls and enjoy!
Arroz Con Pollo | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
I'd made him arroz con pollo that night, and I specifically didn't take my apron off when I brought it up. I wanted him to see me as harmless and domestic. I thought I'd get further if I didn't threaten him.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reed
I loved, loved, loved this book. I think I started it on a Saturday morning lounging in bed and found myself finishing it that afternoon - having not left my bed.
I’m sure I’m not the only person that has been rapidly devouring the works of Taylor Jenkins Reed, and even more so looking forward the television adaptations of both this book and also Daisy Jones and the Six.
There are a few mentions of food throughout the pages in this story, but after looking up exactly what arroz con pollo was it felt like the perfect lunchtime meal on a cold autumns day. This recipe is FAR from authentic, but it is pretty delicious and seemed to disappear from people’s plates quite fast.
*Note: I used a plant-based faux chicken for this recipe and it took a lot less time to brown at the start, so just be aware of that if you’re using real chicken.
Arrow Con Pollo
Serves approx. 4 people
Ingredients
400g chicken *see note
1 brown onion, finely diced
1 red capsicum, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
4 tbsp tomato paste
250ml chicken stock
200g long-grain rice
3/4 cup frozen peas
Flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped, to serve
Lemon, to serve
Heat the oil in a large skillet until hot, add the chicken and brown on each side before removing from the heat. Add in the onion and capsicum, cook for about 1 minute until soft before adding in the garlic and cooking for another minute.
Add in the spices and tomato paste, letting it cook for around 2 minutes before adding the chicken back to the pan along with the rice and chicken stock. Reduce to a low heat and cover to let it cook for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until the rice and chicken are both cooked.
Add in the frozen peas and parsley, stir through until heated and then serve immediately with fresh lemon. Enjoy!
Lavender Scones with Whipped Honey and Seal Salt Butter | Brambly Hedge, The High Hills
The mice ate their picnic and enjoyed the late autumn sunshine but soon it was time to go on.
Brambly Hedge | The High Hills
Jill Barklem
I like to think that these lavender scones and butter would be the perfect thing to take along on a tiny mice picnic, to eat in the sun with a cup of tea poured from a tiny thermos.
I instead ate them on a weekend while drinking endless cups of tea! Of course. A close friend of mine sent me a package of amazing goodies recently, including some dried lavender from his and his partner’s garden. This is the first thing I’ve made with it but I’m so very keen to do syrup for iced lattes and many other things!
Lavender Scones with Whipped Honey and Sea Salt Butter
Makes approx. 9 scones
Ingredients
Scones
1/2 tbsp dried lavender
1/2 cup raw caster sugar
375g plain flour
1.5 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp bi-carb soda
115g butter, cold
230ml milk + 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Sea salt
Butter
2 tbsp honey
100g butter
Sea Salt
Scones
Preheat the oven to 200C and line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Combine the milk and apple cider vinegar and set to the side to curdle into butter milk.
Using a grinder combine the sugar and lavender and grind until even and fragrant - I used a small blender to do this but have also used a mortar and pestle before, it just took a bit longer.
In a medium sized bowl tip in the lavender sugar, flour, bi-carb soda, baking powder, and a pinch of salt - mix until combined. Add int he cold butter and use your fingers to rub it into the flour until it resembles wet sand.
Make a well in the middle and pour in the butter milk, stirring with a wooden spoon until it is just combined.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface, it will be quite soft, use your hands to gather it up and give it a few folds until you can bring it together to form a 1 inch thick mound. Use a round cutter, or a glass if needed, to stamp out as many scones as you can. Re-roll the scraps and repeat!
Place the scones onto the prepared baking tray in rows, letting them almost touch (this will encourage them to ride upwards instead of outwards!). I brushed the tops of mine with a bit of extra milk.
Bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until they are a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool a little before serving with the honey and salt butter.
Whipped Honey and Sea Salt Butter
In the bowl of a stand mixer (if you have one! Otherwise you can also do this with a whisk, it just takes a bit more elbow grease) place your butter and beat until it is smooth and fluffy.
Slowly drizzle in the honey while beating it and 1 - 2 tsp of sea salt, depending how salty you like it!
Scrape the butter into a container and refrigerate before serving with scones. enjoy!
Beignets | The Princess and the Frog
Oh, Tia, you are bonafide genius. I’m gonna need about five hundred of your man-catching beignets!
Charlotte, The Princess and the Frog
I love beignets so much. My first memory of them is from my childhood, I would have been only 9 years old and my dad had spent a month in the US, travelling around the New Orleans and Memphis area. He spoke so highly (as a very health conscious individual, him exuding the delights of the beignet was very impressive) of the beignets from Cafe Du Monde, and had even bought one of their packaged mixes to bring home to Australia.
Before the moment I bit into that pillowy, warm, fluffy, icing sugar coated delight my only exposure to doughnuts were the dense, oily and vivid strawberry sprinkle covered monstrosities that were available at the school canteen. That first beignet was a revelation to my young mind that something so simple could be so, so delicious.
Obviously when The Princess and the Frog was released in 2009 and set within New Orleans, they of course had to feature the beignet as a speciality of Tiana. A friend had requested a veganised version of beignets a few years back and during a particularly long weekend I decided to try my hand at them. They turned out just how I remembered, and I think I inhaled nearly the entire batch with coffee after coffee as they came out from the fryer.
Beignets
Makes 6-7 small tarts or 1 big tart
Ingredients
240ml milk
5 tbsp rice malt syrup
1.5 tbsp dry yeast
80ml vegetable oil
520g plain flour
120g icing sugar
230ml vegetable or canola oil, for frying
Sea salt
In a small saucepan combine the milk and rice malt syrup, mix and heat until just warm. Too warm and the yeast will die.
Combine the yeast and the milk mixture in a large bowl and leave to sit for approx. 5 mins or until the yeast becomes a little frothy on top.
Add in about half the flour, 80ml of vegetable oil and a pinch of salt. Add in the remaining flour and mix until the dough is very soft and sticky. Pour it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, you can oil your hands a little if the dough is sticking. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is soft and stretchy.
Lightly oil a large bowl and place the kneaded dough into it, cover tightly with cling wrap or a damp towel and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours - preferably overnight though.
Heat the remaining oil in a thick bottomed skillet until it reaches 180C.
Remove the dough from the fridge and place it into a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a rectangle that is approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut out your beignets from this (I usually like mine sort of smaller so about 2.5 inch rectangle works for me).
As you’re cutting out the beignets you can start frying them. Only do a few at a time (depending on the size of your skillet), you don’t want to overcrowd them. As they start to turn a golden brown, make sure you’re flipping them so they’re getting evenly cooked. About 2 minutes each side is all that is needed!
As you pull the beignets from the oil, place them onto a plate lined with paper towel to get the excess oil from it, before tossing with the icing sugar to coat it well. Enjoy hot with a coffee!
Honey Pear Tarts | Circe
‘I made you honeyed pears,’ I said.
He held up his hands, showing a half-eaten fruit, shining with juice. ‘I found them, thank you.’ He paused. ‘I have something to show you.’
Circe
Madeline Miller
I’ve always had so much motivation and ideas I want to achieve. I pick up hobbies at an incredible rate - the spare room in my apartment has boxes filled with gardening supplies, a sewing machine, knitting and crochet supplies, to name a few.
This blog was one such hobby, I’ve found it hard to focus on it in the last few years. Starting recipes or taking photos and finding it impossible to finish them. It’s only in the last month I received a diagnosis for ADHD and medication for it. And suddenly things make a lot more sense. I can finally finish things. It’s like my brain has become coherent.
I’m excited to see if I can keep this coherency, especially for this blog. Making recipes, taking the photos - brings me such joy. I was so happy to kick the year off with a recipe from Circe. A book that I absolutely loved. What weird kid in school wasn’t obsessed with Greek mythology?
There are so many vivid descriptions of food in this book, with beautiful descriptions of wild strawberries and platters of meats and cheeses. The idea of honeyed pears were most appealing though. I first tried a roasted pear and honey ice-cream, but couldn’t get it quite right. But these tarts ended up absolutely incredible. A very easy recipe if you want to impress someone at a dinner.
Honey Pear Tarts
Makes 6-7 small tarts or 1 big tart
Ingredients
Tart shell
800g biscuits (I used digestives and chocolate ripple biscuits)
115g butter, melted
Filling
400g cream
150ml milk
100g raw caster sugar
50g honey or substitute + 20g
2 tbsp cornflour
1tsp agar agar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Sea salt
3-4 pears, peeled, cored and cut in half
Juice of one lemon
Tart crust
Using a blender or a food processor crush the biscuits until they are very fine. You can also put them under a tea towel and use a rolling pin to go over them if you do not have a blender etc.
Combine the crushed biscuits and melted butter, mixing well. Prepare your tart case/s by lightly greasing them, before pushing the biscuits mix into each one firmly until it covers the bottom and the sides. You don’t want it to be too thick here, but it needs to keep its shape.
Place the prepared tart crusts into the freezer for 20 minutes. While they are chilling preheat your oven to 180C. Bake the chilled tarts for approx. 10 minutes or until they have darkened in colour. If you’re making it with chocolate biscuits, follow the time instead of the colour. Remove them from the oven and place to the side to cool completely.
Filling
Combine the milk and cornflour together, mixing well until there are no lumps. In a saucepan, place the milk mixture, cream, sugar, and honey and heat over a medium-low heat. After about five minutes, add in the agar agar, vanilla and a pinch of salt.
Continue to stir the filling mixture until it begins to thicken. Once it has thickened to the point that it heavily coats the back of a spoon you can remove it from the heat. Carefully distribute the filling mixture into the prepared tart cases. Place them into the fridge overnight to cool and set.
These are delicious as is - but even better when you add a honey roasted pear on top. Preheat your oven to 180C, and line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the pears face down on the tray and brush the lemon juice over them. Drizzle the extra 20g of honey over the top and add a pinch of sea salt.
Bake for approx. 25 minutes or until they are golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Once the tarts have set and the pears have cooled, place them on top and enjoy!