Orange Cream Pie

I returned to Teeny's Tour of Pie Cookbook for dessert on Christmas Eve for our traditional Lobster Dinner. As Teeny points out citrus fruits are in season at Christmastime, so an orange custard pie is an excellent choice.

Fortunately I had made two crusts at Thanksgiving when I made the Honey Ginger Pie and froze the one I didn't use. Also fortunately, I did not throw the extra crust away the week before Christmas when I saw it in the freezer and failed to identify it. Also, fortunately, when I read the recipe to make the "Buttery All-Purpose Crust" and saw the recommendation to freeze the extra dough a light bulb went off in my head and was able to retrieve the dough the day before I made the pie, so it was even thawed when I needed to roll it out. A true Christmas miracle.

The filling was made with
1/2 c sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 c cornstarch (the last of what I owned)
2 c milk
4 egg yolks
2 T butter
1/2 c freshly squeezed orange juice (or in my case clementine juice)

The recipe also calls for orange zest. I did grate some zest from the clementines, but it wound up on the floor before I got it into the the filling, so I just went ahead without it.

Dry ingredients were sifted together then milk and egg yolks added. The filling was cooked over a medium heat with constant whisking until it started to thicken. After it was removed from the heat the butter, and juice were added and stirring continued until the butter melted. I also added some orange extract, as well as some Triple Sec. The filling was poured into the pre-baked pie shell, then the pie was covered with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator to set.

A most delicious pie.