Cranberry and Orange Meringue Pie:
Can you believe it’s the end of 2020, good lord.
Chocolate graham crust with bits of candied ginger for the crust and light orange curd. Lastly my favourite part is the fluffiest of the cranberry meringue, from cranberry syrup. All the fun christmassy flavours into one delightful little pie. This is just perfect for your Christmas lunch/ breakfast. Trust me on that, we literally ate in a day 😀
Cranberry and Orange Meringue Pie
Chocolate graham crust with bits of candied ginger for the crust, light orange curd and toasted cranberry meringue, from cranberry syrup
Ingredients
Orange curd
- 4 XL Egg yolks125 ml Lemon Juice ½ cup
- 1 XL Egg
- 150 gm Granulated Sugar ¾ cup
- 100 gm Salted Butter Just little under a stick
- 2-3 tsp Lemon Zest
- 180 ml Orange juice (segments blended and not strained) ¾ cup
- 1 tsp Orange Blossom water
- 1 ½ tbsp Corn Starch/flour
Cranberry Syrup
- 150 gm Cranberries (I used fresh)
- 125 ml Water ½ cup
- 100 gm Granulated Sugar ½ cup
Chocolate & ginger Crust (9" tart tin)
- 200 gm Graham cracker cookies (crushed into bits) 1 sleeve
- 100 gm melted milk/ dark chocolate
- 115 gm Salted Butter 1 stick
- 25 gm candied ginger (chopped)
- 2 tsp Cocoa powder
- 15 gm Butter (for greasing)
Cranberry Meringue
- 3 XL Egg Whites
- 150 ml cranberry syrup ½ cup + 2 tbsp
- ¼ tsp Cream of Tartar
- 50 gm Granulated Sugar ¼ cup
Instructions
Orange curd
Add all ingredients in a metal or a glass bowl. On a pan with simmering water, place the bowl with the ingredients and whisk slowly.
Keep whisking gently until the curd starts to thicken. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water.
Once the curd starts to thicken, remove from heat. Strain it to remove the orange bits and skin or egg white bits that may have been slightly cooked in case the water was too hot or the bowl touched the water.
Store it in a bottle until needed. The curd can be stored in the refrigerator for upto 3 weeks.
Cranberry Syrup
Add all the ingredients in a small pan, on medium heat. Let it cook, until the sugar is dissolved.
Strain the cranberries and store the syrup if not using immediately.
Chocolate & ginger Crust (9" tart tin)
Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Place a pack of graham cracker cookies in a ziplock bag and smash it to bits. It does not have to be fine, it can be small chunky bits.
Melt the chocolate and butter. Chop the candied ginger into small bits.
In a bowl, add the smashed graham cracker bits, candied ginger bits and the melted chocolate and butter. Mix it all together until the cookie bits are completely covered with chocolate and butter.
Grease the tart tin with butter and dust it with cocoa powder.
Dump the chocolate cookie crumb into the pan and press hard to fit in the tart grooves and flatten using the back of a measuring cup.
Bake for 15 minutes, once baked. Let it cool and come to room temperature. Keep aside until assembly. You can also add the orange curd into the baked shell and let it chill in the refrigerator overnight or you can keep them all separate and assemble before serving.
Cranberry Meringue
Clean your bowl, whisk, containers and spatula that you will be using with vinegar or lemon juice
If you had made and kept the cranberry sauce, heat it up on medium heat until its hot and syrupy. If you have just made it use it straight away.
In a clean steel/ glass bowl, add the egg whites. Whisk using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer. Whisk until soft peaks are formed. Add the sugar and whisk for about 2 minutes on medium speed.
Meanwhile lower the speed a bit and start pouring the hot cranberry sauce. Whisk until stiff peaks are formed. Keep in refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Assembly
Remove the tart shell from the tin. Place on a cake board/ serving platter.
Add the orange curd if you haven't already. Smoothen using a palette knife.
Scoop dollops of the cranberry meringue on top, the cranberries in the meringue give it a beautiful pink colour.
Torch the tops with a kitchen torch if you fancy.
Recipe Notes
If you you have trouble getting the curd to thicken:
- Heat the orange curd gently on low-medium heat.
- Add 1 1/2 gelatin sheet in a bowl of cold water, once its soft. Drain the water.
- Place the gelatin sheets in a small pan and heat up.
- once dissolved, transfer into the warm orange curd. Heat gently and set in the refrigerator.
Serve this for Christmas and promise to eat more than just one slice!
Merry Christmas and happy baking