Grapefruit Meringue Pie

This grapefruit meringue pie is a nice change of pace from lemon meringue. I ended up adding some lemon juice as well to get it as tart as I wanted it (I love tart pie!), but the grapefruit flavor was still prominent and delicious. I love the bitter and slightly floral undertones of grapefruit, and they work really well with fluffy meringue and graham cracker crust. I definitely didn't get my meringue as brown as I wanted it, because I was so afraid of burning it! Luckily, it was still very tasty. Housemate Sebastien said this might be one of his favorite things I've ever baked!

In other news, I haven't heard back from the winner of the Frugal Foodie giveaway, so I'm moving on to a second random pick. The winner this time is #2 Mrs. Milne! Congrats on the win, and I'll email you with the details of getting the book.


Grapefruit Meringue Pie (adapted from Baking Bites, original recipe here)

Graham Cracker Crust:
1 package graham crackers (about 8 graham crackers), crushed
1/4 cup sugar
4 T melted butter

Mix together the graham crackers and sugar, and then mix in the butter with a fork. Press into a pie crust and chill until ready to use.

Filling:
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 T cornstarch
3 T flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup fresh grapefruit juice
2 T grapefruit zest
1 lemon, as needed (optional)
3 large egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
2 T butter, softened

Meringue:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp water
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, flour, salt and water. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring with a whisk, for 3 minutes, until quite thick. In a small bowl, combine egg yolks with grapefruit juice and zest.

2. Very slowly drizzle the hot mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return saucepan to the heat and, whisking continuously, stream in lemon mixture. Add in butter and cook over medium-high heat for another 3 minutes. Taste and add lemon juice or zest if the filling is not as tart as you like.

3. Strain the filling into the crust and cool to room temperature. One filling is cooled, preheat oven to 350 degrees. (Note: browning the meringue can be done with a kitchen torch, instead of putting the pie in the oven.)

4. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil and turn heat to low.
In a large bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Beat in cream of tartar and then beat at high speed until egg whites reach soft peaks. Carefully and very slowly, with the mixer turned to medium, stream in sugar syrup and beat egg whites to stiff peaks.

5. Spoon meringue onto pie filling and make sure to completely seal the edges of the meringue with the crust, leaving no filling exposed. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until meringue is lightly browned.