me re: my life

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

I am a professed lover of all things pumpkin. Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin butter, pumpkin candles, pumpkin bread, pumpkin shampoo... You name the pumpkin product, I love it. For years and years, my anticipation of Thanksgiving was intimately associated with my grandmother's Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. Currently my brother is the master pie-maker in my family, but since he's in Kansas for Thanksgiving and I'm in NYC, I figured this year I'd try my hand at this Cloudman family recipe.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

First, the ingredients:


Filling:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1 and 1/3 cups mashed cooked pumpkin (canned)
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp gelatin
1/4 cup water

Meringue:
3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
6 tbsp sugar

Crust:
1 and 1/4 cups fine gingersnap crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter

I think it's best to start with the gingersnap crust. I used my food processor to crush the gingersnaps into crumbs and then pressed the butter/crumb combination into my 9.5" pie plate. Bake the crust in your oven at 325 degrees for 10 mins.


Next, the filling. Blend 1 tbsp Gelatin and 1/4 cup water and let stand. I used a little ramekin.


Separate your egg yolks and egg whites. Whites in a dry bowl. Yolks in a saucepan.


Add the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, pumpkin, and milk to your egg yolks in the saucepan.


Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring until it boils. Boil one minute. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin. Cool. (I cooled in the freezer and it took ~20 mins).


While you're waiting, make your meringue. Combine 3 large egg whites and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar in a large dry mixing bowl. Beat until softly stiff, then add sugar one tablespoon at a time (6 tbsp total) and beat until stiff.

It takes a while, but eventually you will get sexy stiff peaks like these:

Once your pumpkin mixture is cool and partially set, beat until smooth. Carefully fold into the meringue.
Pile the meringue/pumpkin mixture into the gingersnap crust and chill until set. Garnish with whipped cream.

The intern orphan dinner isn't till 7:30pm. I'll let you know how the pie is received this evening.

posted by Anne @ 1:19 PM