Lola Wants Sour Orange Pie

"Woman make pie. Man eat pie.
Man love pie. Man love woman." - My husband on this sour orange pie (and apparently the secret to a man's heart)

This past weekend was filled with an abundance of good eats and good company – two of my favorite things. Sundays are generally reserved for family dinner at my parents' house. And this Sunday my older sister came home from Chicago for a few weeks!

Thrilled to have her here, I offered to contribute appetizers and dessert to the menu. What the hell? I was feeling inspired to spend my Saturday in the kitchen! And with family dinner providing a perfect venue to taste test new recipes, I immediately dove into The Lee Brother's Southern Cookbook for ideas.

At 5 pm Saturday evening, I turned on the speakers to my portable music player and began work in the kitchen. At 11 pm, my dessert was stored in the refrigerator with the two appetizers I previously made; and this chica was down for the count. You might as well have called me Maw Maw as I sat straight up in a wing backed chair and began to doze off to sleep. But it was all worth it on Sunday afternoon when my contributed food was met with compliments and devoured by family members.

I can’t wait to share these recipes with you! You're going to love them. But the spotlight goes first to the Sour Orange Pie. If you enjoy key lime pie, try this recipe. In fact, my sister loved it more! That’s not saying much since she doesn’t like key lime; but I’ll take that as a win none the less!

This orange infused dessert is sure to please any citrus flavor lover. It’s refreshing, cool and ideal for entertaining in the spring or summer. I made my own pie crust and substituted a mixture of orange juice, lemon juice and grapefruit juice to create the sour orange taste since I could not find sour oranges. (See notes below for the recipe and substitutions.)

After family dinner and with only 2 pieces of pie left in the dish, we found ourselves outside on the patio. A warm 80 degrees and gusts of breeze kept us cool as we conversed until the sun went down, and Stewart and I made our way home with leftovers (including the pie).

 
Sarah Vaughan singing "Whatever Lola Wants" pairs well with the sour orange pie. Her sassy lyrics and sultry voice sing "I always get what I aim for". And in aiming to make a delicious citrus pie, my goal was accomplished.  
 

 
 

Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups of vanilla wafers, pulsed 10 times in a food processor to make fine crumbs.
3 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (warm or cold)

Sour Orange Pie (for the filling)
5 large egg yolks
one 14 oz can sweetened condensed whole milk
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 cup sour orange juice
 *If you can't find sour oranges use: 1 part grapefruit juice, 1 part lemon juice and 1 part orange juice
1 tablespoon sour orange zest
 *I used 1/2 tablespoon navel orange zest and 1/2 tablespoon of lemon zest
4 teaspoons navel orange zest
 
Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the vanilla wafer crumbs and the sugar. Add the melted butter and toss thoroughly with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the butter is evenly incorporated, about 1 minute. Using the bottom of a sturdy juice glass, press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, creating an even layer on the bottom and sides. Bake on the middle rack until the crumb mixture has darkened to the brown of a pecan shell and the sugar and butter have fused with the crumbs to form a crust, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
 
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks well with a hand mixer or whisk until they have lightened in color, about 1 minute. Add the condensed milk and 2 tbsp heavy cream and stir with wooden spoon to incorporate. Add the sour orange juice, sour orange zest and 4 tsp navel orange zest and stir until the filling is consistenly creamy and light yellow in color, about 1 minute.
 
4. Pour the filling into the crust and bake on the middle rack until the surface is quivery, like gelatin, 14-16 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool for 30 minutes so the pie can set firmly. Transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely, about 4 hours (cover in plastic if keeping for more than 24 hours).