How to make a classic Texas grapefruit pie

BY Ronetta Gower Pfotenhauer

February 09, 2012 12:49 AM

Before you can really produce most citrus recipes, you need to learn how to filet the fruit. I am repeating the instructions from the Jan. 26, 2011 column, as per requested.

Using a small very sharp serrated knife, carefully remove the peel and all the white segment and use the knife to push each piece into a bowl. Squeeze the remaining to the top and bottom at the start of this procedure. Good luck!

You are now ready for the famous Grapefruit Pie which is certainly indigenous to the Valley. There are many variations, but this is at least one of the original recipes, of course with a few alterations through the years, created by Buddy Pfotenhauer of Bud & Sally's Bakery in McAllen. It became widely known as Buddy's Grapefruit Pie.

Grapefruit Pie

1 baked 9 in pie shell
1/2 pkg (8 0z) cream cheese
4 Cup peeled and sectioned grapefruit
1 Cup sugar
3 Tbl cornstarch
1/2 Cup orange juice
1/2 Cup grapefruit juice
1/2 Cup water
1 tsp grated orange rind
1 Tbl butter
Red food coloring 1/2 pt whipping cream
3 tsp sugar

Stir together sugar and cornstarch; gradually stir in fruit juices and water; add orange rind. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils 1 minute. Add butter and few drops of food coloring. Cool. soften cream cheese and spread on pie shell. Put grapefruit into pie shell. Pour glaze over top. Chill 3 hours.

Whip cream with 3 tsp of sugar and decorate pie with sections of grapefruit. Note: Peel and section grapefruit several hours or the night before, and place in a colander allowing excess juices to drain.

This pie is simply delicious and simple enough to make. But be sure to spread the cream cheese on the pie shell after it is baked in order to seal the juices and prevent a soggy crust

In the late '40s or early '50s, after Buddy returned from the service, he took over his parents' cafeteria, renamed it Bud & Sally's, and catered to hundreds of Winter Texans. To promote the citrus crops and create something different for his patrons, he "came up with" a new pie recipe, the Grapefruit, which was an immediate success.

When a friend of his opened Ferrell's Restaurant in Mission, Buddy shared his recipe and Ferrell's soon became the Mission Mecca for grapefruit pie until it closed many years later.

In 1963, I moved to the Valley and was told that there were two things I must do. One, go to What A Burger for an 'Out of this World' hamburger and, two, go to Mission for a slice of Grapefruit pie. It was the South Texas Thing to do! It went on for years.