Ingredients

• 1 pie crust, baked
  
  FILLING

• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 T. flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup pawpaw pulp

Combine sugar and flour. Add egg yolks and milk, beat well. Add pawpaw pulp and cook over medium heat until thickened; pour into baked pie crust.

MERINGUE

• 2 egg whites
• ¼ tsp. cream of tartar
• 4 T. sugar
• ½ tsp. vanilla

Beat egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff, but not dry; they should stand in soft peaks when beater is removed. Add sugar ½-teaspoon at a time. Beat in vanilla.

Spread meringue over pie and bake in 350 degree F oven until lightly browned. Serves 6.

About Pawpaws
The pawpaw is a somewhat unfamiliar fruit. It’s native to Ohio and the Midwest, but is not commercially grown on a large scale; it doesn’t get trucked to supermarkets all over the country.

The fruit, which is similar to a mango in shape and size, grows on tropical-looking trees and has a tropical taste—sweet like a banana and tangy like a mango. It’s a soft fruit, with flesh that has been described as having the consistency of a creamy custard.

It’s the largest edible fruit native to North America and was eaten by Native Americans long before the Europeans arrived on our shores. If you’re lucky enough to live in a region where pawpaws are grown, you might find the fruits at farmers’ markets. If you’re not, it’s also available by mail order from a small number of growers.

Integration Acres, in Albany, Ohio, offers a variety of pawpaw products—including fresh pawpaw (in season), Pawpaw Spiceberry Jam and Pawpaw Green Tomato Relish—to those interested in rediscovering this American heirloom; (740) 698-6060; www.integrationacres.com