Orange Zest Is The Secret Ingredient Your Pumpkin Pie Needs

A classic, easy pumpkin pie is packed with warming spices that help ramp up the autumn and winter flavors and give your dessert dimension. However, there's another ingredient you can add to the mix to boost the taste of your dessert and add depth to it — orange zest.

Orange zest is the brightly colored outer part of the peel on an orange. This layer of the fruit contains oils, and when you finely grate it and add it to your baking, it gives a light citrus flavor to your dishes. When you add orange zest to your pumpkin pie, the bright flavor of the ingredient can help make your pie feel lighter. It can also make your dessert taste slightly sweeter. Better yet, although the zest complements the flavors of the pumpkin, it's not overly citrusy and is quite subtle, helping preserve the classic taste of this seasonal treat.

Now, to use this trick to upgrade your seasonal dessert, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Plus, there are several other ways to enhance the orange flavor in your pie and create a showstopper of a treat.

One of the first things to know about adding orange zest to your dessert is how to get it off the orange. Remember, orange zest is only the outer part of the peel, not the whole peel. So, to remove the zest, you'll want to use a grater to remove just the bright orange part of the fruit's peel. Once you see the white of the rind appearing, stop grating and move to a different area. To get orange zest, it's also best to use a finer grater so that you don't get large, unappetizing chunks of the zest in your dessert. Instead, you'll get thin, small pieces of it that blend seamlessly into your pie's filling mix.

With the orange zest grated, it's time to add it to your pie. Anywhere from about ½ teaspoon to 1 tablespoon tends to do the trick. Feel free to play around with amounts to get the perfect balance of citrus in your pie. You can toss it straight into your pumpkin pie filling mixture along with the rest of your spices and other ingredients. Just make sure to stir well so that the zest is evenly distributed. Then, bake your pie as usual and get ready to enjoy a twist on a classic dessert!

Besides adding orange zest to your pumpkin pie, there are a few other ways to add a dash of citrusy flavor to it. One way is to use orange bitters, which is a cocktail flavoring that adds extra spice as well as the citrus taste to your dessert. Another option is to use a bit of orange juice in your pie filling to help bring out the fruit's flavor.

Moving away from adding orange to the filling, you can also play around with the crust. Tossing in a bit of orange zest to the crust can also add a light, citrusy flavor to your dessert. You can either pair this with an orange pumpkin pie filling or just add it to the crust with your standard recipe.

Finally, you can also feel free to play with your topping. Making a boozy whipped cream infused with Grand Marnier or another orange liqueur, for instance, can play on the flavors of your pie. Or, decorate your dessert with a bit of candied orange peel to complement the taste in it. Next time you go to bake this treat, know that there are plenty of unique ingredients for upgrading your pumpkin pie and adding a citrus twist to it.