A Lemandarin, also known as a Rangpur Lime or a Mandarin Lime, is a hybrid between a lemon and a mandarin orange. The tree in my neighborhood had a ton of ripe lemandarins in December. I’m told they’re great for making marmalade, but since they’re a bit like sour oranges or Meyer lemons (which you could use instead), I thought they might be good for dessert as well. I had some dough scraps from holiday baking so I decided to try making mini lemandarin pies. I served them to some friends who have eaten a lot of my desserts, and they said these pies were one of the best desserts I’ve made for them, so I guess I’ll have to get my hands on more lemandarins.
Guessipe
- pie dough
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 TBSP butter
- 1/3 cup lemandarin juice
- 2 eggs
- pinch of salt
- 1 TBSP heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
Roll out the dough, cut it into rounds, and press it into greased muffin or mini pie tins. Bake at 350 degrees F until golden brown (about 20 minutes). Set aside to cool.
Cream the sugar and butter together.
Mix in the lemandarin juice, eggs, and salt.
Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
Remove from heat. Stir in the cream and vanilla.
Spoon lemandarin filling into each mini pie crust. You can top each with a blackberry or raspberry if you want a cute little decoration.
