Blood Orange Meringue Pies

5 from 2 votes

These Blood Orange Meringue Pies offer a citrus-infused twist on a classic favorite, featuring a sweet and slightly tart blood orange filling paired with a heavenly meringue topping. Perfect for impressing friends and family or satisfying your sweet cravings.

Prep Time50

Cook Time2 40

Total Time3 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: pies

Calories: 619kcal

Equipment

1 food processor
1 stand mixer
4 mini tart pans
1 saucepan

Ingredients

For the Pastry

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter chilled
1 egg yolk

Meringue

2 egg whites room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
food coloring orange and red gel

Blood Orange Curd

2 tbsp. butter
1 blood orange zest and juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Meringue

Place the room-temperature egg whites and the sugar into the bowl from your stand mixer and mix to combine. On the stove, fill a saucepan with about 1.5 inches of water and bring to a simmer. You should be able to place the bowl of your stand mixer on top of the saucepan so that the steam can heat it, but the water does not touch the bowl.
Once the water is simmering, place the bowl with the egg white mixture over it to create a double boiler. Mix by hand with a whisk constantly for 3 minutes. The sugar should completely dissolve. You can test if it is done by rubbing a small amount of mixture between your thumb and index finger. If it feels grainy, continue whisking over the steam until it is completely smooth.
Transfer the bowl onto the stand mixer, attach the whisk, and beat on high speed for 10 minutes or until the bowl is completely cool. You will be left with a very stiff meringue that is almost marshmallowy in texture. You know the Swiss meringue is ready when there are stiff peaks that support themselves when the whisk is lifted out and turned over.
Preheat the oven to 212⁰F (100⁰C). Line a flat baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon the mixture into 4 equal mounds slightly smaller in diameter than your tart tins. Use a spoon to even out the top of the meringues.
Using a toothpick dipped into gel food coloring, swirl around the surface of the meringue to give a colorful marbled effect.
Bake for 90 minutes. After 90 minutes turn off the oven and leave the meringues in it for another 30-60 minutes to continue drying. After this, they are done and should be crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside!

Pie Crust

In a food processor, blitz together the flour and butter until you have a fine breadcrumb-like mixture. Add the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of ice cold water and blitz again. The dough should come together into 1 piece, if it doesn’t add 1 teaspoon of water at a time until it does. Flatten the dough into a disc and cover tightly with cling film. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into 4 equal parts. Roll each section into a circle, about 1/8 inch thick, and line the mini tart pan. Once all four tart pans are lined with the pastry, put a piece of parchment paper or tin foil on top and fill each one with baking beans.
Turn the oven to 356⁰F (180⁰C) and put the tarts in the fridge while the oven warms up.
Bake the pie dough with the baking beans or pie weights for 15 minutes, then remove the beans and parchment paper and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Allow the pie dough to cool fully then place in an airtight container until ready to use.

Blood Orange Curd

Using a stand mixer, cream the softened butter, sugar, and blood orange zest together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the orange juice and mix again until evenly combined.
Place the mixture in a saucepan and cook on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not let the mixture boil. It will thicken as it cooks.

Assembly

As soon as the blood orange curd is done, pour it straight into the baked and cooled pastry tarts. Allow to set for an hour at room temperature.
Place a meringue on top of each tart and serve.

Notes

You can store the assembled tarts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.

Do not refrigerate as the meringues will go soggy.

Nutrition