Chiffon {Pie Style}

Normally, Fridays are reserved for fashion or Friday's Favorites and today I want to talk about chiffon. Not in the skirt version but in the pie form. Chiffon is a soft, lightweight fabric and chiffon is a pie version is a soft and light tasting filling. This chiffon pie is wearing a graham cracker crust bottom, with a lemony yellow middle area topped off by a white chiffon top. What a beautiful outfit, er pie!

Let's make this beautiful and very fashionable pie!

First, gather together your ingredients. 

For the crust: 9 whole graham crackers, 3 tablespoons white sugar, 5 tablespoons butter, melted.

For the filling and chiffon topping: 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin, 4 tablespoons water, 5 large eggs (2 whole, 3 separated), 1 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest, 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 4 tablespoons room temperature cream cheese, cubed. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In your food processor, grind the graham crackers into crumbs. 

Add in the white sugar then mix. 

 Finally add in the melted butter and mix until the ingredients are the consistency of wet sand. 

In a pie plate, press the graham cracker mixture evenly on the bottom and sides of the plate.

 Bake the crust for 15 to 18 months or until a golden brown color.

Once the crust is cooked, remove the crust from the oven and let it cool completely.

In two separate small glasses or dishes, separate the 1 teaspoon of gelatin into 1/2 teaspoon and 1/2 teaspoon. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cold water into each cup. Let the gelatin soften for at least 5 minutes. 

In a saucepan crack the 2 whole eggs and separate the other 3 eggs. 

Add the 3 yolks to the sauce pan and set the 3 whites aside to be used later in this recipe. Add in 1 cup of sugar and cornstarch. 

Add in the lemon zest, juice and heavy cream. Whisk all ingredients together. 

Cook these ingredients until thick, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir the entire time the mixture is cooking so you don't end up with scrambled eggs. If you want to be accurate with temperature, the temperature of the mixture when cooked is 170 degrees. 

Remove the saucepan from the stove and add in one of the 1/2 teaspoon of softened gelatin. Mix until completely dissolved and let the curd sit for 2 minutes. Pour 1 1/4 cup of the lemon curd into the cooked crust, spread it around the bottom of the crust and put the pie in the freezer. 

Don't wash out the saucepan, add in the other 1/2 teaspoon of softened gelatin and cubed cream cheese. The cream cheese should melt, if it doesn't put the sauce pan back over a burner for a few minutes until the cream cheese if completely melted.

In your mixing bowl, whip up the 3 egg whites until they are foamy about 2 minutes. Add in the remaining 1/4 cup white sugar and then whip for another  4 minutes, the egg whites should be glossy. 

Pour in the curd-cream mixture down the side of the bowl and turn on your mixer to whip all the ingredients together for 30 seconds. Use a spatula to scrap down the sides of the bowl. 

Remove the pie from the freezer. Pour all the egg whites cream cheese mixture over the lemon curd and let it set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.

Then serve, eat and enjoy!

recipe found here