Cranberry & Orange Meringue Pie

27/12/2013

Cranberry & Orange Meringue Pie

meringue

Pre- Christmas is great. It’s just another excuse to be able to eat until you can eat no more. This year, me and my pals decided to do a proper family Christmas meal. Is it “me and my pals” or “my pals and I”? My pals and I like our food, some of us more than others. For some of us, hanging out always includes food. Whether its poached eggs for breakfast, dominoes for dinner or a light snack of nachos, you could say food is one of the gang. I really have made it sound as if we do nothing but eat, we do do other things. Honest.

Before I do anymore damage to my friends reputations, I shall continue telling you about our pre-christmas. Lauren and I took charge of the shopping and most of the cooking. It took sometime for the meat eaters to decide what they wanted for their main. Some said turkey, others gammon, there was even talk of goose. Bleurgh. They finally decided in guinea fowl, so off to Lockey Farm Shop we went to source this fowl. I didn’t even know there were such farm shops in such close proximity to Woodley. It was so exciting! There were chickens wondering around and sheep hanging about. The shop was amazing. They had everything from fresh produce to cheese and meat. Lauren picked up a couple of birds and I got some stilton for the veggie main; mushroom wellington. The rest of the shopping was done at Sainsburys. No need to talk about that.

Our dinner was a great success! We all ate until we could eat no more and boogied in the kitchen. In fact, we had so much fun we decided to make it an annual tradition! The pie came out slightly short of perfect, as the meringue had gone a bit soft by the time we came to eat it. I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to baking. If it is even slightly burnt I am not happy. But my pals assured me it still tasted delicious. Phew. Anyways, at the end of this post, after the recipe, I have added a few photos from the evening!

Now I am warning you, this recipe is a bit long winded, but totally worth it! If you want to make elements in advance of the pie eating day, you can make the pie crust and filling the day before.

Recipe

I got this recipe from good ol’ BBC Good Food . It says the recipe is “moderately easy”, that’s a bit of a lie. It’s moderately easy if you have a food processor and are good at making pastry, separating eggs and making meringue.

Serves: 8

Prep Time: 1 hr (if you are working at a steady pace!)

Cooking Time: 1 hr 45mins (including chilling and cooling)

Skill Level: No walk in the park!

Equipment:

23cm Loose bottomed tart tin

Mixing bowls (a few!)
Egg separator (not essential)
Citrus juicer
2 x Saucepans
Baking beans (any dried beans e.g. kidney)
Sieve

Ingredients for Pastry
140g cold butter (diced)
250g plain flour (plus a little extra for dusting)
100g icing sugar
2 egg yolks

For the Filling
250g cranberries (fresh or frozen)
3 tbsp cornflour
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 2 oranges
100g golden caster sugar
85g butter (diced)
3 egg Yolks
1 whole egg

For the Meringue

4 egg whites

200g golden caster sugar

2 tbsp cornflour

Method

Pie Crust:

Put the butter and flour in a food processor and whizz until mixture resembles fine crumbs. (Can be done by hand; rub butter and flour together)
Combine egg yolks and 2 tsp cold water.
Whilst food processor is still running, pour in the liquid, bringing pastry together. If pastry dough does not come together, add a little water – 1 tsp at a time. (No more than 2!)
Tip pastry onto a lightly floured surface, bring together to form a flat disc.
Roll out pastry to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin.* Leave pastry over hanging the tin.
Prick bottom of pie crust with a fork and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
Whilst the crust chills, heat the oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6.
Line pie crust with baking parchment and fill with baking beans and blind bake for 15 mins
Remove parchment and baking beans. Return pie crust to oven and bake for a further 10 mins until pastry looks golden brown.
Trim edges of pastry with a shape knife.
If continuing to make rest of pie, lower oven temp to 180c/160c fan/gas 4.

*Top tip from the man himself Paul Hollywood; Fold the rolled pastry in half and half again, and place on the plate from the tart tin. Place the plate back in the tart tin ring and unfold the pastry.

Pie Filling (can be made whilst crust is baking):

Cook the cranberries in a shallow pan over medium heat, with 2 tbsp water, for 15 mins until pulpy and mushy.
Push fruit through a sieve over a bowl. You will be left with a thick, smooth, cranberry purée. Get rid of the seeds and skins.
In a clean pan, whisk together orange & lemon juice and cornflour.
Add the sugar and cranberry purée. Heat until the mixture begins to bubble and has thickened.
Remove from heat and add butter. Beat until butter has melted.
Add egg yolks and whole egg to pan. Beat well.
Return pan to medium heat. Keep stirring vigorously for 5mins until mixture thickens. You want it thick enough to drop off the spoon. Remove from heat and set aside.

For Meringue:

Put the egg whites in a large clean bowl and whisk to form stiff peaks. (Make sure the bowl is v.clean. Egg whites don’t like dirty bowls. If you have one, use an electric whisk, makes life much easier!)
Add half the sugar a spoonful at a time. Whisk between each spoonful, until stiff again.
Whisk in the remaining sugar and cornflour, until shiny and thick.

Nearly There!

Pour filling into pie crust.
Add meringue, a spoonful at a time round the edge (just touching the pastry), then pile the rest up in the centre. Spread so filling is covered.
Bake for 18-20mins until meringue is crisp and slightly coloured.
Leave pie to cool for 30 mins before removing from tin.
Leave for another 30 mins before slicing.