One of my favorite things about this time of year is some of the different produce that you see in the supermarket. From rhubarb to leeks and venison to goose, this time of year is all about the produce that gives us some of our most comforting dishes. Walking into a store to see all these wonderful ingredients in abundance is heart-warming, but there is only one thing that truly makes my heart skip a beat: a blood orange.
There is just something so special about an ingredient that is familiar, an orange, that when sliced reveals a surprising red-tinged flesh that makes the tart, subtly sweet juice it is known for. Whenever I see them, I always leap to grab as many as I can. I love them so much one of my first recipes on this blog was for Blood Orange Mimosas (which are still a MAJOR fave).
The other week I picked up a lovely bag of blood oranges and knew that I needed to make something special. I instantly thought of some sort of pie to really show off the flavor of the blood oranges. But what better way to top a pie than a billow of pillowy, marshmallow-like meringue? Blood Orange Meringue Pie? Turn on your ovens, it’s time to get baking!
This Blood Orange Meringue Pie is absolutely delicious. The filling has a great orange flavor and is flecked with pink from the pulp of the blood orange. The custard is as smooth as silk and is a great partner to the fluffy meringue and the crumbly crust. This pie is different than most in that it has a graham cracker crust rather than a traditional pasty crust. I really enjoy the graham cracker here with the addition of cinnamon which gives the crust a subtle spiciness. If you’d prefer a pastry crust, you can make your favorite pie dough, blind bake, then pour in the filling and bake as directed in the recipe.
One note when making any kind of meringue pie: if your filling is cold when adding the meringue, your meringue may weep (leak! Yuck.). To prevent this, add the meringue on top of the pie whilst the filling is still hot to help cook the meringue from beneath. You could also try an Italian meringue, where the meringue is cooked by adding a hot sugar syrup to the egg whites while whipping. Either way, you don’t want a weepy meringue.