A rainy Sunday. A yearning to make lattice.
A handful of spicy Meyer lemons. A hidden layer of ganache.
…and a relaxed determination to bake everything in the Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book.*
Gather
For the pastry
+ 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
220g cold butter
1 cup cold water
1 cup ice
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
For the ganache
1/4 cup thickened cream
113 grams dark chocolate
For the filling
1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice (3–4 lemons)
1/4 cup orange juice
Zest from 1 orange + however many Meyer lemons you used
4 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 + 1/3 cups caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup thickened cream
Then:
- Start preparing the crust a few hours ahead of time.
Make the same pie crust as for the Four & Twenty Blackbirds Paprika peach pie.
Blind bake the bottom shell at 180° C until it’s dry all over, then allow it to cool — go on, chuck it in the freezer — while you…
… - …make the ganache.
Leave the oven on after you’ve blind baked the crust, but turn it down to 165° C. - Break up the chocolate into single pieces (or chop it into 1cm squares).
- Bring the cream to boiling in a small saucepan — it won’t take long.
- Remove the cream from the heat, drop the chocolate in, and swirl it around until the chocolate has completely melted. Whisk briefly if needed.
- Pour the ganache into the cooled pie shell; use a spatula to spread it evenly on the bottom and about 1cm up the sides.
… - Put the ganache-filled pie shell back in the freezer while you…
… - …prepare the filling.
Zest and juice the lemons and orange, and mix these all together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
… - In the bowl of your stand mixer — or a large bowl with hand beaters — beat the eggs, yolk, sugar and salt until thick and creamy pale yellow.
- Add the juice and zest, and the 1/2 cup of cream. Mix until fully combined.
- Pour the citrus filling into the fully chilled, ganache-lined crust.
- Bake at 165° C for about 30 minutes while you…
…
- …prepare the lattice.
(The Four & Twenty Blackbirds book has a wonderfully clear illustrated walkthrough, but there are plenty of other guides online — like this one.) - After 30 minutes, remove the half-baked pie from the oven and finish assembling/installing the lattice on top of it.
- Bake for another 30 minutes, or until the middle of the pie has fully set and the lattice is golden brown.
- Allow the the pie to cool for a few hours before serving (otherwise the insides will go everywhere). It will keep quite nicely in the fridge — just let it sit at room temperature for about half an hour before serving, so the citrus flavour can really come back to life.
Notes:
*Confession: The Four & Twenty recipe doesn’t call for a double crust/the lattice on top, but I so wanted to make a lattice that I just had to add one. You don’t have to! (But it’s wonderfully rich and flaky, and really tastes like it belongs.)
The Lucky Baker 