The Hirshon North Florida Sour Orange Pie

Sour Orange Pie Image Used Under Creative Commons License From gardenandgun.com

Citizens, the new year has rung in and what better way to celebrate than with a slice of that most luscious of citrus-rich pie from Florida?

No, I’m not talking about key lime pie, though I dearly love it – this is its far less well known cousin from the Northern part of the state, sour orange pie!

Sour orange juice makes for a refreshing and bright dessert when it’s incorporated into a custard pie. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to find these oranges outside of Florida and a few other tropical locations.

For a sour orange pie that would be accessible to cooks in any part of the country, a comparable substitute for the tart juice can be made by combining lemon, lime and orange juice concentrate.

An animal cracker crust provides a sweet, crunchy contrast to the creamy, tangy citrus filling.

As noted on a Florida wiki:

Florida cuisine includes a variety of seafood dishes from the state’s extensive coastline, lakes, and islands. Florida’s food and dishes developed from various ethnicities including indigenous food crops and preparations, cracker cuisine of the settlers, Island cuisine, and various Latin American influences brought to the state and melded by various immigrants.

Influences include Spanish, Italian, Latin America, Southern United States, Africa, and indigenous tribal cuisine. Dishes like the Cuban sandwich, Devil crab, and Crab chilau (enchilada), represent fusion cuisine innovations. Floribbean cuisine is influenced by neighboring islands and immigrants from then is a subset of Florida cuisine.

Florida is known for its citrus crops, introduced to the area, iincluding oranges, grapefruit and kumquats. Sour orange is a more traditional variety used to make Sour orange pie and preserves. Key lime pie is even more popular and famous.

Citizens, my version of this classic recipe uses a bit of triple sec in the whipped cream for an extra bonus of orange flavor and my preferred juice ratios to replicate sour orange juice.

If sour oranges are actually available to you, use ¾ cup of strained sour orange juice in place of the lemon, lime, and orange juice concentrate. Minute Maid Original Frozen is an excellent orange juice concentrate.

Also, depending on the brand, 5 ounces is between 80 and 90 animal crackers.

Battle on – The Generalissimo

The Hirshon North Florida Sour Orange Pie

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Ingredients

Crust:
5 ounces animal crackers
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
***
Filling:
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
6 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
4 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest plus 4 tablespoons juice
1 teaspoon grated lime zest plus 2 tablespoons juice
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 drop red and 1 drop yellow food coloring (optional)
Pinch salt
***
Whipped Cream:
¾ cup heavy cream, chilled
1 ½ tbsp triple sec
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon grated orange zest

Instructions

FOR THE CRUST: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Process crackers, sugar, and salt in food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add melted butter and pulse until combined, about 8 pulses. Transfer crumbs to 9-inch pie plate.
Using bottom of dry measuring cup, press crumbs firmly into bottom and up sides of pie plate. Bake crust until fragrant and beginning to brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
FOR THE FILLING: Whisk all ingredients in bowl until fully combined. Pour filling into cooled crust.
Bake pie until center jiggles slightly when shaken, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool completely. Refrigerate until fully chilled, at least 3 hours, or cover with greased plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM: Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl until stiff peaks form, 2 to 4 minutes. Slice chilled pie and serve with whipped cream.