Photo by Morgan Wujkowski
Winter in Florida doesn’t come with chestnuts roasting but with an abundance of citrus blooming, including the revered Seville orange. Known as the ‘sour orange’ for its unique bitterness, this sun-soaked Florida fruit has roots leading all the way back to the 16th Century. When Spanish settlers conquered Florida, Seville oranges were the first groves planted. These weird fruits look like a giant, bumpy orange had a baby with a bright, citrusy lemon. The result? An unequivocally tart fruit that would forever change the citrus game.
The sour orange is unapologetically tangy and aromatic. As the original rootstock for today’s sweet oranges, they are the OG Florida citrus. The sour orange is incredibly difficult to find in nature these days, unless you’re Cathy, The Gabber Newspaper’s publisher, who seeks them out and picks them from random trees at state parks. Few You-Pick groves in the surrounding Tampa Bay area offer Seville oranges but you can find the juice (not marinade), on Amazon. And that’s exactly what I did.
Heritage Flavors
Homesteaders whisked tart, hardy sour oranges into what might be one of the Sunshine State’s oldest citrus delicacy: sour orange pie. It’s a bright, custardy pie that captures Florida’s real citrus story. Sour orange pie has strikingly similar ingredients and preparation to Key Lime Pie, but the flavor is unmatched and nothing short of original. If you’ve never tried it, now’s your time.
Cathy’s Sour Orange Pie
Cathy’s recipe, which is tried and true, is an adaptation of Authentic Florida’s recipe but without the fresh meringue. Instead of preparing one large pie, I made individual pies in my mini springform cheesecake pans. This recipe makes five mini pies (4-inch diameter) and I used it as my table dessert for Thanksgiving. It was a showstopper. Be sure to get the sour orange juice and not the marinade, as the marinade has garlic and onion infused, which will throw off your whole dessert flavor profile. I used graham crackers for the crust but Biscoff cookies, my latest baking obsession, would be outstanding in this recipe.
Crust
- 1-1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (I used salted butter and the pies turned out just fine.)
- 1/2 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients, press into pie pan (or mini spring-form pans, like I did) and bake for 5-6 minutes. Cool crust before filling.
Filling
- 1/2 cup sour orange juice
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar (Not everyone adds sugar to the filling. If you like a tart pie, like me, omit it.)
- One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
Mix the juice, yolks, sugar, condensed milk. Pour into pie crust and freeze until solid — approximately 6 hours. I garnished my mini pies with blood oranges but you can top it/them with meringue, flavored Chantilly cream, or serve them naked and ungarnished.
This winter, try your hand at baking Florida’s history because sour orange pie is citrus season’s best kept secret.
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