Raspberry and Hibiscus Meringue Pie With Natural Dyes

It doesn't get any better than lemon meringue pie, but you can always improve upon a classic. This pie is made just like lemon meringue pie, except instead of just one flavour- lemon, we have three complimentary flavours- raspberry, blueberry and hibiscus.

I used hibiscus to flavour the raspberry curd and give it deep scarlet colour. Died hibiscus petals are used to make fragrant, red-coloured tea. It's tart, tastes a bit like cranberries and had a distinctive flowery-ish smell.
I ground freeze dried blueberries into fine powder to flavour and colour the meringue. I'm a sucker for any food that's naturally blue.

Hibiscus tea can be found in natural food stores and Middle Eastern/ Indian shops. I got freeze dried blueberries from Amazon.

Crust:

• 210g pastry flour
• 125g butter (frozen)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• pinch of salt
• few tablespoons ice cold water

Raspberry- hibiscus curd:

• 450g frozen raspberries
• ½ cup water
• one handful of dried hibiscus flowers (might be labeled as “hibiscus tea”)
• 100g -200g sugar
• juice from one lemon
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 eggs
• 30g cornstarch
• 75g butter

Swiss meringue:

• 150g egg whites (about 4 egg whites)
• 225g white sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons powdered and sieved freeze dried blueberries
• candy thermometer (only needed if you want to make sure your meringue is salmonella-free)

[in case you wanted to make a bigger meringue - egg white to sugar ratio is 2:3]

I’m using a slightly different method, instead of rubbing the butter into the flour with my fingers or using food processor, I’m using a cheese grater. There are recipes online claiming this method is superior to regular crust making method but I don’t know if those claims are proven. I use it simply because my food processor died and I hate getting my hands into the butter and rubbing it. Yikes.

Put a whole block of butter (250g) into a freezer for a few hours or overnight. Once frozen, grate it directly into a bowl filled with flour, sugar and salt. Use a scale to make sure you only grate 125g.
Mix flour and butter with a fork until all butter shavings are coated. Add 3-4 tablespoons of cold water and mix it quickly. Get your hands into the dough and bring everything together, form a ball, cover in cling film and cool in the fridge for 1 hour.

Roll the crust into a large circle, big enough to cover the pie dish. Dust a little bit of flour on the surface and the rolling pin to prevent sticking. Line the pie dish and clean up the sides. Use a fork to prick the bottom of the crust. Put it back into the fridge, 30 min will suffice.

Put a sheet of non-stick baking paper inside the crust and fill it with ceramic baking beans, regular dry beans or rice.

Bake at 200°C for 15 min, then lower the temperature to 180°C and bake for 15 more minutes. Let it cool down to room temperature before filling.

Raspberry curd is made the same way as lemon curd used for lemon meringue pie, except, instead of lemon juice, raspberry juice (puree) is used.

I like to use frozen raspberries because they are available all the time and don't need to be cooked beforehand. Defrosted raspberries release a lot of juice, it’s easier to just blend them with a little bit of water. If you are using fresh fruit, you will have to stew them in the microwave or on the stove with about ½ cup of water until they are soft and mushy and ready to be blended.

Blend 450g raspberries with ¼ cup water. Few pulses will do, they will come apart easily. Transfer raspberry puree into a saucepan, add 100g sugar and a handful of hibiscus flowers. Heat it up to a boiling point. You will have to stir it now and then to keep it from burning. Leave it to infuse, 30-40 min should be enough.

Once your puree is cooled and infused with hibiscus you have to strain it. I used two different strainers (small and smaller holes) to make sure no seeds remained. I also strained it three times until puree was completely smooth.

In a separate bowl whisk eggs, egg yolks, lemon juice, cornstarch and sugar. I added 50g of sugar since I wanted my curd to be tart enough to balance the meringue. Leave the sugar off if you want yours to be extra sour, or add more to make it sweeter.

Once your egg mixture is pale and there are no cornstarch lumps, add it to the saucepan with raspberry puree and heat it up on medium heat. Cook it for 7-10 minutes until thickened. You have to keep stirring it as it as it cooks. Turn the burner off, add butter.

To make sure raspberry curd is as smooth as possible, pass it through a sieve again. Fill the pie crust while the mixture is still hot, spread it evenly and cover the curd with cling film, press it onto the surface to keep it from forming ‘skin’. Let it cool while you work on the meringue.

Freeze dried fruits are sold powdered, broken down or whole. I don’t recommend buying powders. They are often clumped, stale and not very flavoursome. Get whole or broken fruits and grind them at home. Grind them immediately before making the meringue. Blueberry especially tends to react with moisture in the air and clump up. To prevent clumping you can add some cornstarch to the powder. 1 teaspoon per 1/2 cup powdered blueberries.

Once blueberries are powdered, pass it through a fine sieve and cover it up until your meringue is ready.

If you plan on using powdered blueberry later on, the best way to keep it from clumping is to transfer it to an airtight container and put a silica gel sachet inside.

Two types of meringue can be used for meringue pie- Italian or Swiss. Swiss meringue is my preferred choice given that it’s easier to make and is the safest option if your eggs might be contaminated with salmonella.

• Whisk egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl. You don't have to beat them, just mix with a spatula.
• Put that over a pan of boiling water (make sure the water doesn't touch the bowl). Keep mixing until all sugar is dissolved.
• You can check it by rubbing the egg mixture between your fingers. If you can’t feel any sugar grains, your mixture is ready.
• To make sure your meringue is free of salmonella you need to use candy thermometer. You have to bring the eggs to approximately 155-165°F. Once you hit that mark, you can take the bowl off the heat.
• Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer or use hand mixer to whip the meringue. Continue whipping until meringue is stiff and reaches room temperature (10-15 minutes)
• Add 2-3 tablespoons powdered blueberries and mix until uniform in colour. Don't add all at once, do it in stages, so you don't end up with overwhelming flavour.

Note that I didn't add any food colouring to the meringue, that pale blue colour is completely natural. The shade depends on quantity of blueberry powder, it goes from light blue to light lavender and purple. Once you take the pie out of the oven and cut a slice, you will notice that the meringue darkened, light blue became a shade or two darker throughout the entire pie.

You can pipe the meringue with a piping bag or just slather it on top and rough up the surface, so it caramelises better.

I wanted the meringue to have a dark blue swirl on top (purely for nicer pictures), so for that I added a dab of blue food dye to a tablespoon of leftover meringue. I piped small dots all over the top of the meringue and used a skewer to swirl it around.

Bake in the oven at 140°C for 20 min, or longer if you want a different texture, mine was very mouse-like, the longer you cook it, the more chewy it will become. Once finished, you can put the meringue under a broiler (or use a blow torch) to caramelise it a little bit. Not too long though, you don't want to loose the blue colour on the top, 30-45 seconds should be enough.

Tip: Use a knife dipped in boiling hot water to cut through caramelised top.