I've been itching to try out this lemon chiffon pie recipe for a while. I love lemony desserts. And I even had some extra egg yolks to use up after making the last pavlova!

Ideally this would have been made with a freshly baked, home-made gingersnap crust. But when I spotted a bunch of "reduced for quick sale" ready-made gingerbread crumb crusts at the grocery store just after Christmas, I figured that would give the same ginger-y vibe as the gingersnap crust, but with a bit less effort on my part.

This was great in theory, but the recipe ended up making more filling than would fit in the store-bought crust, so I ended up whipping up a quick graham cracker crust to contain the excess. So now I've got two pies: one (slightly underfilled) with a home-made graham cracker crust and one with a store-bought gingerbread crust.

We've only tried the gingerbread one so far, but it was a hit. Although I found that the ginger notes were kind of drowned out by the lemon. The crust tastes gingery when eaten on its own, but it doesn't really come through when combined with the lemon filling. Maybe next time I can try it with a home-made gingersnap crust and see if that produces a punchier flavour.

Lemon Chiffon Pie

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Crust

• 125g gingersnaps, crushed
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 75g unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 1/4 c. cold water
• 2 1/4 tsp. (1 packet) unflavoured gelatin
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. lemon juice
• 4 large egg yolks¹
• 1 Tbsp. orange zest
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 c. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Combine the gingersnap crumbs and sugar and mix well.
3. Add the butter and thoroughly combine.
4. Dump the crumb mixture into a pie plate and press firmly. Try to create and even layer of crumb mixture across the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate.
5. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~7 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
7. Meanwhile, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and allow to stand until softened (5-10 minutes).
8. Add the sugar, lemon juice, egg yolks, orange zest, and sea salt and whisk to combine. It may be a bit lumpy and that's okay.
9. Cook over medium-low to medium heat², whisking constantly, until slightly thickened (~8 minutes). Do not let the mixture come to a boil!
10. Remove from heat and place pot in ice bath and allow to cool to room temperature.
11. Once custard mixture has cooled, in a separate bowl, beat the cream with the icing sugar until stiffened.
12. Add the whipped cream to the custard and gently fold it in.
13. Scoop the filling mixture into the prepared pie crust and smooth the top.
14. Cover and chill until set (~4 hours in the fridge or 1 hour in the freezer).
15. Let stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before serving.

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¹ My eggs were a little on the small side so I tossed in an extra yolk for my pie. ^Back
2 The recipe calls for cooking over medium heat, but also warns against boiling. I started mine off over medium heat, but gradually nudged the temperature down as it cooked to ensure that it stayed below a boil. ^Back