LEMON CHIFFON PIE WITH [STABILIZED] WHIPPED CREAM & RASPBERRIES 10 APRIL 2023
After the debacle with the LEMON CREAM PIE, and as I had one lemon left over, I thought I'd try a LEMON CHIFFON PIE . . . . . . again using a Pillsbury™ deep dish frozen crust. Neal bought two more lemons and packages of raspberries. AND, I realized, the Stabilized Whipped Cream was just the right consistency to use in a piping bag. Mixing station . . . So few ingredients; so many utensils & bowls. Having never made this recipe - or chiffon anything - before, I wasn't sure what bowls and spatulas I would need. All of these and more, it turned out. As with the previous pie, it's the lemon prep that takes time (and effort) to get fresh lemon juice & zest, but I'm getting better at both.
[Deaf] Supervisor Emmie, recently groomed and just home from an emergency visit to the vet (nothing serious; she just needed a Cytopoint shot for her itching), saw me in the kitchen and thought I was getting something to eat . . .
. . . but then realized I was going to bake and that meant . . . STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN! So she made herself more comfortable. I highly recommend brushing the pie crust with egg white before pre-baking it, which meant I wasted a yolk, as the white could no longer be mixed in with the others. Combining the egg whites with the heated lemon & egg yolk mixture . . . The original recipe stated, Add sugar as you go, I followed this, and would suggest instead to wait until the whites have at least arrived at the SOFT PEAK stage. (REMEMBER to clean bowl, whisks, spatulas, etc. with vinegar first.) I could see that if I didn't do SOMEthing, I'd have to serve this pie with straws. Having made MERINGUE COOKIES for over 50 Christmases, I thought to add Cream of Tartar to the egg whites. THAT quickly brought them to the STIFF PEAK stage! Ready to go into the refrigerator . . . There was waaaaay more filling than needed in the 9" deep dish crust; Neal suggested I put the extra filling into those little things I used to make LEMON PUDDING CAKES and EGGNOG PUDDING CAKES (a/k/a ramekins) . . . WORD OF WARNING: BE SURE to scrape the bottom of the bowl/saucepan, so that ALL the egg yolk mixture is incorporated into the egg white mixture. I had to pour the filling out of the pie crust and remix it. The end product . . . (I have to work some more on my spacing.) . . . and the crustless ramekins . . . The taste is wonderful; the tartness of the lemon is balanced by the sweetness of the whipped cream. The crust has stayed crisp. DEFINITELY A KEEPER! says Taste Tester #1.
THE RECIPES I USED
A crust make of crushed Nilla™ cookies would be good, too. I could then use my 10" glass pie pan. Something to try next time. And there WILL BE a next time!

MAKE A COOKIE CRUMB PIE CRUST HERE