Tag Archives: custard

Pie #25 – Outrageous Orange Custard Pie

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Today’s selection comes courtesy Divaliscious in Dutchess County, New York. The recipe was located and attempted courtesy of GroupRecipes.com. Dutchess County just sounds like the kind of a county that would make really good fruit pies. This pie doesn’t have orange slices but is an orange flavored custard with a meringue topping.

The crust!:

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 stick chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch cubes

2 tbsp. sugar

pinch of salt

3 tbsp. or more of ice water

Blend the flour, butter, sugar and salt in a food processor using on/off turns. Add 3 tablespoons of water and mix until moist clumps form. Add additional water by teaspoon if the mix is dry. Remove from processor and form into a ball. Flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Let set in the fridge a minimum of 3o minutes. Once cooled, roll out to 13 inch diameter disk and transfer to a 9 inch pie pan. Trim edges and use extra dough to patch any holes or thin spots. I usually have a lot of those:)

The filling!:

Orange

2 eggs, separated

1 egg whole

1 cup white sugar

4 tbsp. sugar for meringue (goes with 2 egg whites you saved)

1-2/3 cups evaporated milk (12 oz. can; The Divaliscious recipe called for 14.5 oz. but no such can seems to exist in Austin, TX. Besides, 12 oz. = 1 2/3 cups. Not only can I convert measurements but I can lift heavy things too.)

1-1/3 cup orange juice (with pulp is best)

3 tsp. grated orange zest (I used 4. Hope it’s not a deal breaker.)

1 tsp. pure orange extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and have shelf placed on the lower level in the oven. Separate two of the eggs – beat egg yolks and 1 whole egg well in mixer. Add sugar and blend well. Add evaporated milk, orange juice, orange zest and pure orange extract. Continue to mix until blended. Pour into pastry shell and bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until custard is firm and knife comes out clean. Cool pie slightly.

While pie is cooling, beat 2 egg whites and 4 tablespoons sugar to make meringue. Remember people, make sure the meringue is blended until it forms stiff peaks. Top pie with meringue and bake in moderate oven (325 degrees) for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

The pie came out looking like it hadn’t fully baked. I realized afterward that I put in 1/3 cup too much orange juice. So this pie is going to be outrageously juicy. I also burned the crust which is never good. I need to put tin foil collars on these when they bake at 40 minutes.

The pie tastes good but it’s not, as the name suggests, outrageous. It’s got a nice  balance to it, but it’s also soggy. Not my worst but not one of the better pies either. It’s mid-range.

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Pie #13 – Banana Cream Pie

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NOT a Frito Pie

Today’s selection comes to you courtesy of “Loud” Jen Beck. It was more of a plan B than plan A though. Her original request was something called Frito Pie. It isn’t something I would consider pie. It’s more like nachos and I would call it a pie in name only. Of course she had to counter that Shepherd Pie is also only a pie in name only as it has no crust. She would classify it as more of a casserole. That’s fine, I wasn’t going to make one of those either:)

I’m not a huge fan of bananas, let alone bananas in custard topped with whipped cream. Doesn’t mean I won’t eat it though…

The crust:

1 cup of graham cracker crumbs, about 16 graham crackers destroyed in a food processor

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (I used 1/3 of a cup as the crumbs seemed dry, and I like butter)

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all the ingredients until well blended. Press evenly into a 9 inch pie dish, starting at the center and working your way outward until the crust is even on bottom and sides of pie dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Transfer to wire rack or your oven top to cool.

The filling:

3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups of whole milk

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

2 tbsp. butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large ripe bananas

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Blend in a bowl. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Slowly whisk in the milk, vanilla extract and the whipping cream. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat and blend half the custard into the egg yolks. Combine the mixture with the yolks and return to the saucepan. Return to a boil and cook until thickened which is about 6 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons of butter and stir until melted. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap. Cool the mixture before chilling in refrigerator for 2 hours.

Cut the bananas into 1/2 inch slices and blend in with lemon juice, gently. Fill the pie crust with one cup of the chilled custard mix. Place a layer of bananas. Repeat the layers twice. The recipe at this point says to refrigerate for 6 hours. Forget that! Topping stat!

The topping:

1 1/4 cup whipping cream

2 tbsp. confectioner sugar

1 large ripe banana, sliced into 1/3 inch pieces to decorate the top

cinnamon to dust the top

Beat the chilled whipping cream and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until firm. Slather the mix over the top of the pie. Place the banana pieces decoratively in the whipped cream. Dust with cinnamon.

I whipped the topping earlier in the day, while the custard was chilling. We have friends visiting from Houston and San Francisco and this evenings event was Texas roller derby. So basically the topping is one of those “plan ahead” things you can do if you need to tend to other things in your life. I got home at 10 pm and assembled the pie and will be having this with Jen, and others, tomorrow morning with my coffee.