Grapefruit Pie — Two Common Recipes Using the Famous Texas Red or Pink Varieties
Winter Sweetz supplies the best quality grapefruits from deep down in the Lone Star State that are delicious, sweetest, most exquisite tree ripped Texas Grapefruit to provide you numerous health benefits. Because of their slight tartness, they can seem like other tart pies to a degree. However, their consistency and flavor are unique, depending on the ingredients used and how they are made.
1. Common or sparkling pie (pith/membrane-free)
Ingredients
¾-Cup sugar
1-Tbs corn-starch
4 Large red/pink fruit, halved with the meats spooned-out and into a strainer bowl w/o seeds
2-Cups of juice from the fruits used; top off with water if less than 2 cups
One 3-oz box/pkg (sugared) or 0. 4-oz box/pkg (unsugared) of raspberry or similar flavored red gelatin/jello
One 9" pre-baked Graham-cracker shell in disposable pan
Small container of whipped cream
Directions
In a medium saucepan under medium heat, combine the sugar, corn-starch, and juice
Stir until clear and thick; this condition happens just as it starts to bubble
Remove from the heat
Add the raspberry gelatin; stir to dissolve it in
Let the mixture cool to room temperature
Add the pure grapefruit meat chunks/pulp; blend them in by stirring slowly
Let settle; remove any remaining floating small seeds
With the aid of a spatula, pour the filling into the shell, and allow it to spread evenly
Cover and chill in refrigerator for about 2-hours
Top the entire pie with whipped cream or serve individual slices with dollops of it on top
If desired, add membrane-removed wedges of grapefruit atop the whipped cream
Options below (these are not needed to make a good pie)
Add 2-tbs of Karo syrup or 1-tbs butter to the initial heated combination
Add 1-tbs or big squirt of lemon or lime juice to it
Top the shell with a thin softened layer of cream cheese before adding the filling to it
To fill the shell to its brim, or to make a straight grapefruit jello without a shell, enlarge the recipe to 1-cup sugar
In preparing the juice, squeeze the emptied half-rinds into a measuring cup via a strainer together with that drained from the pure meats. Let the pure meats drain well. Use a clean wide-nose tweezers to remove any small seeds if necessary.
This technique eliminates all the pith and extra membrane from the whole fruit. The idea here is make a relatively soft pudding/jello-like filling that remains firm when serving.
2. Rio Grande Valley or Texas pie (among other names).
Ingredients
32 Regular marshmallows, quartered
½-Cup of grapefruit juice (from the fruits used)
1-Cup of heavy or whipping cream
2½ Cups of fresh grapefruit sections, pith/membrane-free, cut from 3 large fruits
¼-Cup of flaked or shredded coconut
One 9" pre-baked Graham-cracker crust in disposable pan
Directions
Over medium to low heat, melt the marshmallows in ¼-cup of hot juice
Cool the mixture to ambient or room temperature
Add the other ¼-cup of juice to the grapefruit sections in their container
Whip the cream separately
Fold and blend the melted/cooled marshmallows, fruit sections/juice, and whipped cream together
Pour the filling into the shell and allow to spread evenly
Chill in refrigerator for 3-hours or so
Sprinkle coconut on top just before serving
Options
Add 1-tsp of almond extract to the sections/juice portion
Instead of using coconut, top the servings with dollops of whipped cream and slivered almonds
Some cooks think the marshmallows combined with shredded coconut or almonds reduces the pie’s tartness. We have eaten both pies above. Both were tasty and mild even with chunks of grapefruit in them. Yet because we watch our fat/sugar intakes, we like the first recipe plain and simple. Well, maybe with small dollops of whipped cream on top. To learn more grapefruit recipes, visit Winter Sweetz website today.
