Wuuuuttts up, lovely people! I just came out of an intense 8-day working cave. OMG hard work, I love you (sometimes). I decided to celebrate with baking a pie, naturally.

And winter citrus! I’m all about it at the moment. The bursting, brilliant colors of January are coming at you in pie form. Get into this.

When I was in college, living in North Carolina, I would get suuuuper depressed during winter. The days and days of no sun, and constant rainy, cloudy and sometimes snowy weather buuuuumed me out. Big time.

This lead to me doing research on seasonal depression. (P.S. I might’ve been a little overly dramatic.)

Said research lead me to this random long article about tanning salons aiding with this specific type of depression. I was convinced that this was going to work. So there I went, with my googles and PERMANENTLY tanned self (I mean, have you seen my about page? Me no need no tan, ya know?), to the tanning salon.

Obvi, it didn’t work. It did however cause my skin to peel in places I wish to not discuss. So that happened.

And it also lead to my decision to pass on moving to New York like half of my graduating class and opting for sunny Los Angeles instead. It was a good decision.

Too bad I didn’t know about winter citrus, because this stuff is the cure for seasonal depression. I’m convinced.

Just look at how purdy it is! Good gracious.

This pie starts with a graham cracker crust. Solid start to any (easy) pie.

The filling is a made up of sweetened condensed milk, a few eggs and some blood orange juice. I squeezed a bunch of them and used the rest for mimosas. Good look.

And whipped cream. That’s it. Oh yeah, and I lined the outside with Nila Wafers because I think it added a hint of prettiness. Feel free to skip this step if you want.

Think of this pie as a less tart, slightly sweeter, prettier version of key lime pie.

Blood Orange Pie

Print this recipe!

For crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 12 crackers)
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons granulated sugar

For filling:
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of fresh blood orange juice (from 3-4 blood oranges)

For topping:
1 1/4 cup chilled heavy cream
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
10 Nila Wafers

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a food processor, add graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and granulated sugar; pulse for 30 seconds. Transfer mixture to a 9-inch (4-cup) pie dish. Press mixture evenly onto bottom and the sides of the pie dish. Bake crust in middle of oven 10 minutes and cool completely pie dish on a rack. Leave oven on.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together condensed milk and yolks in a bowl until combined well. Add blood orange juice and whisk until combined well (mixture will thicken slightly). Pour filling into crust and bake in middle of oven 15 minutes. Cool pie completely on rack (filling will set as it cools), then chill, covered, at least 8 hours.

3. Just before serving, place the Nila Wafers along the outside crust, pushing them slightly into the filling. Beat cream in a bowl, with an electric mixer, until it just holds medium to stiff peaks. Serve pie topped with cream.

Adapted from this Key Lime Pie from Gourmet

I’m a huge advocate of winter.  If winter ever needed a representative to defend him or herself in the court of law, winter should give me a ring.  For me, winter signifies a time of cuddling, celebrating holidays, eating comforting foods and…not sweating. Yeah, I despise sweating. But sometimes, I must admit, winter can be a huge bummer.  The dreary, cold days get old after a while so I think that’s why winter citrus is so crucial to my January happiness.  Every time I go to the market, the ray of citrus sunshine that comes from the produce department makes me giddy.  The brightness from the meyer lemons, honey bells, clementines–and my recent love–blood oranges, can turn any dreary day into a sunny one.

I know it may seem counterintuitive to eat something like flavored ice in the dead of winter, so I suggest that you pair this icy experience with a soft blanket while sitting by the fire.  I actually ate this in bed under the covers–and the contrast of cozy and cold was a total win.  Trust me on this one.

Blood Orange Granita with Whipped Cream

Recipe from Food & Wine

Print this recipe!

1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup plus one tablespoon of granulated sugar
2 cups chilled fresh blood orange juice

In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

In a 9-by-13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish, stir the sugar syrup into the blood orange juice. Freeze for about 1 hour, or until ice crystals form around the edge. Using a fork, stir the crystals into the center and freeze for about 30 minutes, until a thicker rim of crystals forms around the edges. Stir again and freeze for about 1 hour longer, stirring every 15 minutes or so until all the juice is frozen.

Scoop the granita into bowls or glasses and top with fresh whipped cream.