Recipe: Orange Marmalade Pie
A pie contest winner featured on a nationally syndicated TV show
A twist on a classic lemon meringue pie that celebrates the flavor of orange marmalade. A Salty Cardamom crust holds together layers of sour orange curd, orange marmalade, and topped with a fluff of toasted meringue.
I dreamed up this pie-baby as a creative solution for using up the copious amounts of sour oranges from a Seville Orange tree in my yard, the fruit is prized for making heavenly marmalade.
It won the KCRW Pie Pageant in 2020, and was featured on a nationally syndicated TV game show. I’ll tell you which show one at the end of this post.
On the next episode of the Fruit + Flower Unfurled podcast: a juicy dive into this magical pie, and how it changed my life.
PRINTABLE RECIPE
Orange Marmalade Pie Recipe
DOSING: Makes one 9-inch pie, 6-8 servings at ~5mg THC per serving. You’ll need a total of 40mg THC in the entire recipe. Approximately 0.3 grams of 20% THC cannabis flower. If your flower is different % THC, double-check your cannamath.
Time to Prepare: TOTAL 12 hours (includes all cooling/chill time)
3 hours (pie shell - cooled)
4-5 hours (marmalade from scratch)
30-40 minutes and 3+ hours chill time (curd and meringue)
There are five parts to this recipe:
Cannabutter
Seville Orange Marmalade
Salty Cardamom Crust
Orange Curd
Swiss Meringue
Cannabutter
INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter
0.3 grams cannabis flower (~20% THC)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Decarb + Activate the THC: Preheat the oven to 240°F. Place 0.3 grams of coarsely ground cannabis flower into a small 8 oz. mason jar, seal with the lid to reduce smell, and heat for 40 minutes in the oven to decarboxlyate, which activates the THC. Remove from the oven and let cool until the mason jar is safe to touch. The ground flower will look lightly toasted.
2. Infuse the butter: Reduce the oven temperature to 170 degrees F. Place butter into the mason jar, close the lid. Place the sealed jar back into the oven to infuse for 3 hours. After 3 hours, remove from the oven and cool until the mason jar is safe to touch. Pour the melted butter through a fine strainer or cheesecloth into a clean container and strain out the ground flower bits. Store in fridge until ready to use, keep cool.
As the butter solidifies, a small amount of liquid will separate from the fat. Pour out the liquid after it solidifies, or stir to incorporate back into the butter before it hardens.
adapted from David Lebovitz
Seville Orange Marmalade
Makes 1 quart // Prep Time: 1 hour // Cook Time: 3-4 hours
Make marmalade the day before so it can cool completely. Set aside 4-5 hours of cooking time to make this. This recipe makes 1 quart of marmalade. You won’t need the full quart for the pie, only a 1/2 cup of marmalade. Save the rest to eat with crusty bread and brie cheese
Easy button: Buy a jar of Seville Orange Marmalade, and spend a little extra on the nice marmalade, not Smuckers.
INGREDIENTS:
3 Seville oranges (in season from mid-December to mid-February)
1/2 Meyer lemon
5 cups water
pinch of salt
4 cups sugar
1/2 tablespoon Scotch/Bourbon (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Prep the oranges: Wash oranges and lemon and wipe them dry. Cut each Seville orange in half, crosswise around the equator. Set a non-reactive mesh strainer over a bowl and squeeze the orange and lemon halves to remove the seeds, assisting with your fingers to remove any stubborn ones tucked deep within. Remove the skins from the rinds. If the orange rinds have an extra thick white pith, it will make the flavor bitter. Scrape off as much pith off as you can from the rind. Save the juice, skins, and seeds. Discard the white pith. Tie the seeds and skins up in cheesecloth or muslin very securely.
Cut each rind into 3 pieces and use a sharp chef’s knife to cut the rinds into very thin slices, as thin as possible. Each piece shouldn’t be too large (no more than a centimeter, or 1/3-inch in length). Thin slices looks prettier on top of the pie.
2. Cook the marmalade: In a medium saucepan, add the orange slices, seed pouch, water, and salt, as well as the juice from the Seville oranges from step #1. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook until the peels are translucent, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Stir the sugar into the mixture and bring the mixture to a full boil again, then reduce heat to a gentle boil. Stir occasionally while cooking to make sure it does not burn on the bottom. Midway during cooking, remove the seed pouch and discard.
3. Test jelling point: Continue cooking until it has reached the jelling point, about 218ºF degrees (103ºC), if using a candy thermometer. I cook this slightly less than other jams and marmalades because the high amount of pectin helps the marmalade set up more stiffly. To test the marmalade, turn off the heat and put a small amount on a plate that has been chilled in the freezer and briefly return it to the freezer. Check it in a few minutes; it should be slightly jelled and will wrinkle just a bit when you slide your finger through it. If not, continue to cook until it is. Consistency is important here. If you overcook your marmalade and it's too thick you won't be able to pour a thin layer. Too thin and it'll be watery all over your pie.
4. Pour into jars: Remove from heat, then stir in the Scotch/Bourbon (if using), and ladle the mixture into clean jars. Set aside to cool to room temperature. If the thin rind pieces are floating to the top and not suspended throughout, after the marmalade cools and you’re able to handle it without burning your hand, shake the jar a few times while still warm to help evenly distribute the rinds. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use/eat.
Salty Cardamom Pie Crust
Time to Prepare: 3 hours total (1-hour prep + 1-hour dough chill time + 1-hour blind baking)
Makes one crust
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
DIRECTIONS:
1. Make pie dough: Mix flour, sugar, salt, and cardamom -- in a large bowl or in a food processor. Add butter, cut in the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or your fingers. If using a food processor, add half at a time, pulsing several times after each addition. Pulse to cut in the butter and mix until the texture is like soft wet sand with butter chunks no larger than pea-sized. Flatten butter chunks with your fingers. Slowly drizzle ice water a little at a time. Mix or pulse. Then add more ice water a tablespoon at a time until the dough just starts to come together.
Press pie dough to see if it holds together. You know that the mixture is ready if when you pinch some of the crumbly dough together with your fingers, it holds together. Don’t add too much water or your dough will be tough. Gather the mixture and divide the dough into two halves. Knead just enough for the dough to hold together, but don’t over-knead. Press the dough together and form two flat dough disks. This will help when you need to roll it out.
You’ll see cold butter chunks/streaks speckling the dough. These small bits of butter will spread out into layers as the crust bakes to create a flaky crust. Wrap each one in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour or up to 2 days.
2. Roll the pie dough: Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator and place on a rolling surface between two large sheets of parchment paper. Very lightly flour the dough disk to help it stick less to the parchment. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8-inch thick. As you roll out the dough, if the parchment is getting wrinkled on the dough, peel the parchment off the dough, sprinkle lightly with flour, and continue rolling.
Peel the parchment slowly and carefully off the dough on one side. If it’s very sticky, put it in the fridge for a little bit to chill and harden. Place the parchment back on top and flip the dough with both parchment papers over. Peel the parchment off the other side. Save parchment to use for blind baking.
Place a pie plate upside-down on top of the dough. Grab the side of the pie plate along with the parchment paper with both hands and flip them right-side up. Take the sides of the dough and lift them gently to fall into the pie pan so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Don’t stretch or press the dough down. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish. Crimp the edges. Use a fork to poke holes on the bottom of the crust to allow steam to escape when baking.
3. Blind bake the pie crust: Place the pie shell into the freezer and chill for at least 30 minutes to an hour. Pre-heat your oven to 350°F. Make sure you are starting with a frozen pie crust, not defrosted. Line the inside of the frozen pie crust with two layers of parchment paper (that you saved from rolling the pie dough) or heavy duty aluminum foil, pressing against the sides and bottom of the crust, allowing the paper/foil to extend by a couple of inches on two opposing sides. Fill the pie crust to the top with pie weights. You can use ceramic weights, dry beans, or rice. Press the weights down lightly to fill in all sides of the pie and fold down any parchment seams.
Bake at 350°F for 60 to 75 minutes. Check the pie crust at 60 minutes to see if the edges and bottom are turning golden brown by lifting the excess foil. If bottom looks pale and unbaked but crust and side look golden brown, lift the pie weights out using parchment paper/foil and continue baking until the bottom of the pie is golden brown. If edges are browning too much but the bottom is not done, cover edges with foil to prevent over-browning. Remove the pie shell from the oven. Lift out the pie weights from the pie shell using paper/foil, set aside to cool completely before adding pie filling.
Orange Curd
Time to Prepare: 15-20 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 large eggs
4 large egg yolks (reserve the egg whites for meringue)
Zest of 4 Seville oranges and 1 lemon
1 cup fresh Seville sour orange juice, plus squeeze of lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons chilled cannabutter*
DIRECTIONS:
1. Make orange curd: Whisk sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan to combine. Add eggs and egg yolks and whisk vigorously, making sure to get into corners of pan, until smooth and pale. Whisk in orange zest and juice, salt, and water.
Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer, whisking often and making sure to get into corners of pan, 8–10 minutes (mixture should be bubbling and thickened). At around minute 4 it will transform from foamy liquid to thick pudding. Reduce heat and continue to simmer, whisking constantly, 3 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, whisking every minute. Add chilled cannabutter* to filling and whisk until melted and fully incorporated.
2. Pour curd into pie crust: Pour orange curd filling into cooled pre-baked pie crust; smooth surface. Don't fill the shell completely. Leave enough room to pour a thin layer of marmalade without it spilling over the edge. Cool to room temp. then chill in the refrigerator until cold and set, at least 3 hours and up to 3 days.
3. Pour orange marmalade layer: When the curd is chilled completely, pour a thin layer of Orange Marmalade on top of the cooled curd. POUR SLOWLY. Don't overflow the marmalade over the top of the pie crust. Keep it below the crust line. Pour, then let the marmalade spread. Pour a little more by the spoonful if you need more. Chill uncovered for 1 hour.
Swiss Meringue
Time to Prepare: 15-20 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
4 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt sugar with egg whites: Combine egg whites, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer or another large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a large saucepan filled with 1" simmering water (bowl shouldn’t touch the water). Heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch, about 4 minutes.
2. Beat egg whites into meringue: Fit bowl onto mixer fitted with whisk attachment (or use an electric mixer) and beat on medium-high speed until meringue is more than tripled in volume and medium peaks form.
3. Decorate the pie: Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with piping tips. I used 3 different types of piping tips to create the whimsical design -- round, star, and french tips. If you don’t have piping tips a resealable plastic bag will work—just snip off a corner after bag is filled. Or just pile the meringue on top of the pie like a big fluffy cloud and use a spatula to spread.
Pipe meringue over filling in a crescent moon shape. Leave a part of the pie uncovered to see the orange marmalade layer. Using a culinary torch, lightly toast the meringue until light brown. Garnish with a dried orange slice, or thin-sliced fresh orange slice, or orange peel twist.
This pie was on ABC’s “To Tell the Truth,” I’m the prettiest pie winner of Season 6 Episode 19.
The 2023 KCRW Good Food Pie Fest takes place on Sunday, April 30 at UCLA. Get tickets and put on your eatin’ pants!
"Between the orange color of the filling and the imaginative use of meringue, well it's just so pretty. That is fucking delicious." -- Evan Kleiman, host of KCRW "Good Food"
