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Dessert

Orange Pie

A custard pie flavoured with orange, made from milk, eggs and sugar, and topped with whipped cream or egg-white frosting.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Orange Pie

2 pies

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Beat 3 eggs and ½ cup sugar well together.

  2. Heat 1 pint milk to the boiling point and pour slowly over the eggs and sugar.

  3. Add the grated rind and juice of 1 orange.

  4. Return to the fire and cook 3 minutes.

  5. Remove from the fire and add 1 package orange jello.

  6. Stir until it begins to thicken.

  7. Pour the mixture into a freshly baked pie crust and let cool.

Make the second custard

  1. Boil 1½ cups rich milk.

  2. Add 1 cup sugar, the yolks of 2 well beaten eggs, a small pinch of salt, and 2 tablespoons cornstarch in ¼ cup cold milk.

  3. When beginning to thicken, take from the fire, flavor with orange essence, and pour into a freshly baked crust.

Top and serve

  1. Whip 1 cup cream stiff and pile it on top of the pie like a meringue.

  2. Beat the whites of egg with 3 tablespoons sugar, flavor with orange, and spread over the custard.

  3. Set in the oven to brown.

  4. Serve cold.

  5. Use the whites of the eggs for frosting.

  6. This recipe makes 2 pies.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

958Calories
30 gProtein
32 gFat
139 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Pienot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks and whites thicken the custard and set its structure.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the custard thickens and sets from.
Cornstarch
Thickens the custard as it heats, giving a smooth, sliceable body.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and helps the egg whites hold their foam.
Orange
Adds aroma and bright citrus flavor to the custard and topping.
Cream
Whipped into a light, airy topping that adds richness.

The step that matters

Cook the custard only until it begins to thicken. Egg proteins set with heat, so overcooking can curdle the eggs and make the custard grainy. Removing it from the fire at first thickening keeps it smooth, and the cornstarch and gelatin finish the set as it cools.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, cream, sugar, egg, lemon):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raspberryfits better
  3. Coconutfits about as well
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, cream, sugar, egg, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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