Have you ever had a creamsicle pie? Me neither, but I thought, why not? Not long ago I made a banana cream pie for the volunteer firefighters in our town. I make 2 or 3 pies every month for their meeting. As I made it, I thought, why not flavor a pie with orange, and use orange segments instead of banana?
So here was my experiment. I think it came out pretty good! I know there are other recipes out there, but this is totally my version. Start several hours or a day before serving, as the pie crust, if you bake it, and the pudding filling needs to both cool before assembly.
I started with the base recipe for a banana cream pie in my trusty Joy of Cooking cookbook. First, make one pie crust, put it in the pie dish and blind bake. This means to bake it with nothing in it. Lots of places on line will tell you how to do it. It needs to cool all the way down. Or use a premade graham cracker crust.
If you have an orange or two, grate the zest (and keep the extra to dry and use another time), and squeeze the 1/4 cup of juice needed.
While the crust bakes, I made the orange filling. It’s basically a vanilla cream filling, flavored orange. I used a little real fresh squeezed orange juice, and a little orange extract to punch it up. And to make it an orange color, a couple drops of yellow and red food coloring.
I opened a can of mandarin orange segments, and let them drain well. I put some in between the layers, and a few on top – I mean, you have to know what the pie will taste like right? Vanilla extract in the whipped cream on top – hence the vanilla-orange creamsicle flavors and white-orange colors. I also sprinkled a little orange zest on the top of the whipped cream as a final flourish.
I can attest my husband thought it was pretty good. First thing he said was “This is a fireman pie”. So next month the fire department gets to try it.
I think maybe even more whipped cream next time!
Fox Pines Creamsicle Pie
Ingredients
- I crust pie shell baked
Base
- 2/3 c sugar
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- ¼ tsp salt
- 5 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup orange juice preferable fresh squeezed
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 2 drops red food coloring
- 1-2 drops of yellow food coloring
- ¼ tsp orange extract
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp butter
Whipped topping
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup sugar
- Pinch salt
- ½ tsp vanilla
Fruit
- I can mandarin orange segments drained
Instructions
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Place the first 6 ingredients and the food coloring in a blender and whir well. If desired, add a few orange segments to the mix. Pour into a heavy saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened, and coats the back of a spoon. Whisk or stir most of the time to prevent sticking.
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Off heat, add the orange and vanilla extracts and the butter. Stir to mix in the butter as it melts.
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Pour into a bowl to cool. Cover immediately with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold.
Assembly
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Pour the pudding mix into the cold pie shell and smooth out.
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Place 2 rows of orange segments in circle on top of the pudding.
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Whip the heavy cream, adding in the sugar slowly, then add the salt and vanilla. Whip until soft peaks form. Spread the whipped cream over the pudding.
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Garnish with orange segments and orange zest.
