blood orange meringue pie
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This pie is an easy alternative to the classic lemon meringue pie, using cold pressed blood orange juice which adds a more complex citrus note with a hint of bitterness. Topped with a mound of sky high airy meringue, this is the perfect antidote to those cold, wet dreary days.
I use Erin McDowell’s all butter pie crust recipe for all my pies, which I’ve included below.
A few tips for success:
Don’t be afraid to properly hydrate your pie dough, I’ve found that a number of recipes often undershoot the amount of water needed for the dough to come together cohesively
The pie crust and filling can each be made ahead of time as we are making a fully cooked blind baked crust with a cooked curd.
I used a small kitchen blowtorch to toast the meringue, but if you don’t have one yet (I don’t love accumulating excess kitchen gadgets, but there is something incredibly satisfying with torching something!!), you can throw it under the oven broiler for a few minutes
Blood Orange Meringue Pie
makes 9.5 inch pie
ingredients
pie crust
1 1/4 AP flour
pinch of salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 in cubes
6 tablespoons ice water + sprinkle more if needed
blood orange curd
1 1/2 cups blood orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice (~ 1 lemon)
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
4 egg yolks (save the whites for the meringue)
italian meringue
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
4 egg whites (room temp)
1/2 teaspoon vinegar/lemon juice
steps
pie crust:
Mixing dry ingredients with butter: Combine the AP flour and salt. Toss in the butter cubes (make sure the butter is as cold as possible) until the individual cubes are covered in flour.
Flatten the butter: Working quickly (so the butter doesn’t warm up too much), start flattening the butter pieces between your fingers until they’re the size of the walnut halves.
Hydrate: Drizzle in the ice water, and toss with the flour/butter mixture (like you would toss a salad - do not knead). The optimal hydration for your dough is to have it hold together in a ball with no floury streaks. If your dough is still too crumbly, add water slowly as a little water can go a long way. Form dough into a disk, wrap tightly and rest in the fridge for at least 30-60 min.
Roll out the dough: On a well floured surface, roll out the dough until it is 1 inch larger than your pie pan. Transfer dough into the pan, trim the excess dough past 1 inch. Fold the edge of the dough under itself and press down until you have a smooth ridge. Crimp the edges using whatever style you prefer - I pinched the dough between my thumb and index finger on one hand, and my index finger on the other, forming a wavy edge. Dock the dough with a fork, and let the dough chill in the freezer for 30 min. At this point, preheat the oven to 425F.
Blind bake: Line the pie with parchment/aluminum, and fill with weights (pie weights, beans, rice etc.). Bake for 15 minutes, before removing the weights and continuing to bake for another 10-15 minutes until crust is golden brown. Set aside to cool.
blood orange curd:
Making the curd: In a saucepan, mix together the blood orange juice, lemon juice, water, sugar and cornstarch. Bring to a boil while whisking constantly until mixture begins to thicken.
Temper the egg yolks: Pour in a little of the orange curd and quickly whisk in with the egg yolks. Once thoroughly mixed, slowly pour the tempered egg yolks back in with the curd. Continue cooking on low heat while stirring until mixture is bubbling and thickened. Let cool, covered with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
italian meringue:
Preparing sugar syrup: In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the sugar and water to temperature of 235 F. When the syrup reaches 210 F, start whisking the meringue.
Whisking egg whites: In a separate clean bowl, start whisking the egg whites with the vinegar until soft peaks form. At this stage, the sugar should reach the right temperature. Slowly pour in the syrup with the mixer still running on slow, and bring the mixer back up to a high speed to continue beating until you reach stiff peaks.
putting it all together:
Fill the pie crust with the blood orange curd, leveling off the surface. Dollop the meringue over the curd, using the back of spoon to make decorative swirls. Give it a light toast with a blowtorch if you’d like, and serve immediately.
