more intense flavor and aroma than the standard navel orange, and their flesh is usually a beautiful deep red color (though some oranges are only very lightly pigmented; see below). They are slightly tart, which is why I like to pair them with something sweet, as in this White Chocolate Blood Orange Mousse Pie. The sweet
white chocolate balances the acidity of the blood orange juice (which I made even tarter by adding some lemon juice). The rich and buttery crumb crust is made from Lorna Doone cookies, though you can use any shortbread cookie you like. It’s a good alternative to the ubiquitous graham cracker crust. Since the mousse filling ends up
being a very pale puce color, I decided to garnish the pie with candied blood orange slices. Just my luck, my last orange ended up looking a lot like an ordinary old orange-hued orange, without the beautiful coloration characteristic of blood oranges – just a few dark red streaks here and there. Hopefully, your pie will be much more vibrant and just as delicious as mine.
Makes one 9-inch pie, serving 8
Shortbread
Crumb Crust:
1 2/3 cups Lorna Doone cookie crumbs (1
whole package)
2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar
6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter,
melted
White
Chocolate Blood Orange Mousse:
¼ cup water
1 ¾ teaspoons powdered gelatin
¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated blood orange
zest
½ cup (121 g) freshly squeezed blood
orange juice
¼ cup (60 g) freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 large egg yolks
3 ounces good quality white chocolate,
chopped
1 1/3 cups (309 g) heavy cream
Candied
Orange Slices:
1 large blood orange
1 ½ cups (354 g) water
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
Make
the crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium
bowl, combine the shortbread crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Pat the mixture
into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake the crust for 8 to
10 minutes, until it is fragrant and just beginning to brown very lightly. Cool
the crust completely on a wire rack.
Make
the mousse:
2. Place the water in a small saucepan
and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Allow to soften for 5 minutes.
3. Add the sugar, orange zest, citrus
juices and yolks and whisk until blended. Place the mixture over medium heat
and cook, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, until the mixture
thicken slightly and coats the spatula; do not allow the mixture to boil, or it
will cook the yolks. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to stand for 2
minutes.
4. Add the white chocolate to the hot
juice mixture and let stand for a minute to melt the chocolate. Whisk until
smooth. Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Place
the bowl into another bowl filled one-third of the way with ice water. Let the
mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until completely cool.
5. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer
fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream at high speed until soft peaks
form. Briskly fold one-third of the whipped cream into the juice mixture.
Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream. Scrape the mousse into the cooled
crust, swirling the top decoratively. Refrigerate the pie for at least 3 hours.
Make
the Candied Orange Slices:
6. Slice the orange crosswise into rounds
that are slightly thinner than ¼-inch.
7. Combine the water and sugar in a large
skillet and place over medium-high heat. Bring a boil, stirring occasionally
until the sugar is dissolved. Add the orange slices and simmer over medium heat
until the slices begin to turn translucent, about 30 minutes. Remove from the
heat and let the orange slices cool in the syrup completely. Once cool, store
the slices in their syrup in a small container in the refrigerator.
Serving:
8. Serve a slice of the pie topped with a
Candied Orange Slice.
