Confession: Grapefruit Meringue Pie is Disgusting

“Grapefruit meringue pie is disgusting!” Those were the words that my hubby told me when I told him I would be making one. I didn’t think he was right and vowed to create a grapefruit meringue pie that would knock his feet off.

I was so determined to make a grapefruit meringue. I was so excited when I found that grapefruit was on Sale! Yup, got a bag of grapefruit for $1.49 and I bought it with the idea I would make some type of dessert with it. The first thing that came to mind was a grapefruit pie. And then lemon meringue pie popped into my head. What if I subbed the lemon with grapefruit. Surely it would be delicious and creative. Yay me for being so creative. Yup, this is what I thought.

So I needed a recipe. While we were dating, my hubby decided he wanted to make a lemon meringue pie. He grabbed a frozen pie crust, a can of condensed milk, lemon juice, eggs, and sugar. That’s it. I seriously thought he was crazy…those that know my hubby know why I thought that. I sat and watched him, laughing in my head the entire time. It’s not nice to laugh in people’s faces.

I proceeded to watch him separate the eggs, pour egg yolk and lemon juice into the condensed milk, and pour that into the pie crust. Then, he whipped the egg whites, added sugar and made a pretty meringue. He then topped that on his pie, popped it in the oven, and came out with a pretty looking pie. I still figured it would be disgusting and would taste like a condensed milk pie. Oh was I wrong, his pie came out pretty delicious with just the right amount of lemon flavor. I was impressed.

Fast forward to years later when I’m the one trying to create magic in the kitchen. “I’m going to make a grapefruit meringue pie” is all I said to get him to give me the biggest look of disgust. “It won’t work” he kept on saying. I told him to hush it.

I attempted this pie two times, which is generally the max I give a recipe before I move on. The first time, I did exactly what my hubby did except I made a graham cracker crust and substituted grapefruit juice for the lemon juice and made a big soupy mess. I even set it in the fridge for 4 hours, with the idea that it would set and become firm…no chance, that pie was a complete fail. I threw it out sad at the waste in ingredients.

Two weeks later, I gave the recipe a go again. This time I decided I would call my dear sweet mother in law for advice. I called and asked her for her recipe on lemon meringue pie. She proceeded to give me the recipe my husband created, but gave me actual measurements and told me how I should stir the ingredients and how long to bake it. I realized I put way too much grapefruit juice in the first pie. So this time, I decreased the amount and gave it a go again.

This time, my grapefruit meringue pie not only was a soupy mess, but I couldn’t even taste the grapefruit. Le sigh.

The next morning, I was in my office working on blog stuff when I heard laughter coming from the next room. It was my hubby on the phone with his mom and they were laughing at me wanting to make a grapefruit meringue pie. She didn’t know I was trying to make a spin on her pie.

As I was laughed at and laughed at, I considered that maybe grapefruit meringue pie is just not a good idea. Either way, I’m determined to be right about this one and will give that grapefruit meringue pie just one more try. If not, maybe I’ll have to adapt it and create grapefruit soup.

Things I learned from this failure:

1. Swapping one ingredient for another does not always work. I think a grapefruit meringue pie will work but I’ll have to really think about the measurements.
2. I learned how to make a pretty delicious graham cracker crust from scratch. It’s easy, quick, and delicious. That recipe will be coming in the future.
3. Keep trying even when family laughs at you, lol. It’s all in the joy of cooking.

Until the next confession…