Seville orange and ginger pie

Method

1. Finely zest three of the oranges and use a vegetable peeler to pare strips off the remaining two – set the strips aside for later. Halve and squeeze the juice from the oranges, using a sieve to catch any pips, until you have 200ml (you may not need all the oranges – see Don’t Waste It).

2. Put the zest and juice in a small heavy-based saucepan and add the crushed cardamom seeds, 150g of sugar, butter, eggs and a pinch of salt. Cook the mixture over a low-medium heat, stirring regularly. Everything will meld together, then the mixture will start to thicken – this takes some time but don’t be tempted to increase the heat as the eggs will scramble. The curd is ready when it coats the back of a spoon and holds its shape when you draw a line through it with your finger. Once ready, pour into a bowl to cool completely (this will take several hours).

3. While the curd cools, make the biscuit base. Whizz the biscuits to a crumb in a food processor or bash with the end of a rolling pin in a bowl. Melt the butter, then stir into the biscuits. Press evenly into the base and up the sides of the pie dish or tart tin. Chill until the filling is ready.

4. Next, make candied peel from the reserved orange peel strips. Slice the strips into matchsticks. Put them in a small pan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then drain. In the same pan, combine the 2 tbsp golden caster sugar with 2 tbsp water. Heat gently, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then remove the spoon and add the orange peel strips. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until the syrup thickens and the peel is coated. Spread the peel strips out on a sheet of baking paper to cool, curling them so they dry in decorative shapes.

5. Once the orange curd has cooled completely, pour 200ml of the cream into a large bowl and whisk until almost forming soft peaks (you don’t want to overwhip it as the cream will continue to thicken as you add it to the curd). Stir the cream into the curd in 2 batches until all combined, then scrape into the chilled biscuit base and spread evenly. Chill for 2 hours.

6. Softly whip the remaining cream and pipe evenly spaced stars on top of the pie (around the outside, as we’ve done, is a good look). Scatter over the candied orange peel strips to serve. The pie will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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