Mandarin Orange Pie

It is the perfect time for mandarin oranges. They are wonderfully sweet and full of flavor. Their orange color enchants and their smell mesmerizes everyone. So who is able to resist? I certainly was not and I captured these impressions by creating a lovely pie with these gorgeous fruits, a mandarin orange pie with a meringue topping.

The mandarin orange curd is made with freshly squeezed juice. This is done very quickly and the flavor is amazing. And then, on top, there is a delicious meringue with finely ground almonds. This is the crown, so to say.

This pie can be served as a dessert, for your afternoon tea or your coffee break. It is light, fruity and the meringue topping makes it look very pretty.

Now, be aware, I’m giving you a small teaser for my next blog entry! I was able to see behind the curtain of the work of one of Austria’s top chefs. But I won’t tell you any more! Stop by again and you will find out what I experienced, what I learned and which recipes I am going to present to you. 🙂

Mandarin Orange Pie

For the shortcrust pastry:
260 g (2 cups and 2 tablespoons) flour, all-purpose
½ cup (125 g) butter
¼ cup (50 g) sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
1 egg

For the mandarin orange curd:
½ cup (100 g) sugar
1/3 cup (40 g) corn starch
a pinch of salt
375 ml (1 ½ cup) freshly squeezed juice of mandarin oranges
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter

For the meringue:
3 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
¼ cup (50 g) (powdered) sugar
1/3 – ½ cup (50 g) blanched (skin removed) and ground almonds
1 tablespoon sugar

extra: dried beans or lentils for blind-baking

For the shortcrust pastry combine the flour, butter, sugar, a pinch of salt and the vanilla sugar with your hands until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and knead until you get a smooth ball of dough. Leave to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C /350°F (160°C / 320°F fan).

For the mandarin orange curd combine the sugar, corn starch and salt in a pot. Whisk the juice of the mandarin oranges and the egg yolks in a separate bowl until both are well combined. Add to the sugar into the pan. Heat gently. Use an egg whisk to stir constantly. Shortly before the curd starts to bubble stir in the butter. As soon as the curd starts to bubble, remove it from the heat and transfer the curd into a bowl for cooling. Cover the curd (not the bowl!) carefully with some clingfilm (plastic wrap), as you don’t want to get a skin on the curd. Allow to cool completely.

Line the bottom and the sides of a pie mold with butter and dust them with flour. Roll the dough on a floured surface using a rolling pin. The disc should be a bit larger in diameter than the pie mold as you also want to cover the sides of the tin. Dust the rolling pin with flour and roll the dough onto it. Unroll the dough over the pie mold, lower it into it and carefully press the dough against the bottom and the sides of the tin. Cut off any excess dough. Put a sheet of baking parchment on the dough and the dried lentils/beans on top for blind baking. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove the beans/lentil and the baking parchment.

For the meringue whisk the egg whites until stiff. Gradually add the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar and continue whisking until very stiff. Carefully fold in the ground almonds.

Spread the mandarin orange curd on the shortcrust pastry and spread the meringue on the curd. Sprinkle one tablespoon of sugar over it. Turn up the heat to 195°C / 380°F (175°C / 350°F fan oven). Bake the pie for about 15 minutes until the meringue has turned a golden brown. Allow to cool completely before serving.

You can print the recipe here: