Good morning, class! Let's begin the day by saying a random fact about yourself. I'll go first. I collect vintage cookbooks. And you know how much I love to start little categories for my blog posts, so here's a new one: Vintage Recipes! The first one comes from The Culinary Arts Institute Cookbook from 1985. I can't remember exactly where this book came from, but I know my dad gave it to me a few months ago. It's HUGE! It's full of strange old recipes, and the vintage food photography is so fun! ;D Apparently, gelatin molds and mousses were a huge hit in the 80's. Sadly, I think I'll pass on those recipes, but today's recipe actually does use gelatin... go figure!Josh and I went to Howl-o-Scream at Busch Gardens on Sunday, and it really got me in the pumpkin mood. On my day off this week, I decided to make a pumpkin pie. I didn't want to make a regular old pumpkin pie, so I browsed my cookbooks. I found this recipe for pumpkin chiffon pie. The original recipe is called Pumpkin-Crunch Chiffon Pie, but it calls for spreading crunchy peanut butter on the pie crust before adding the pumpkin filling. Excuse me while I go vomit. Ok, I'm back. Yeah, so I guess you can tell I wasn't too thrilled with that flavor combo. I ix-nayed the PB idea and just went the chiffon route. The result was heaven in the form of fluffy, pillowy, light orange, spicy pumpkin pie filling! I dunno if I'll ever make a plain pumpkin pie again. This is just too light and soft and delicious and fluffy and creamy and... omg! I died and went to pumpkin heaven!
Pumpkin Chiffon Pie (from The Culinary Arts Institute Cookbook; 1985)1 baked 9-inch pie shell
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 teaspoon each ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites
1 cup chilled heavy cream, stiffly beaten (I used only 3/4 cup of cream and added 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla)
Soften gelatin in the cold water and set aside.
Combine pumpkin, sugar, milk, egg yolks, spices, and salt in the top of a double boiler. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Stir in softened gelatin and cook 5 minutes more. Cool.
Beat the egg whites (I added 3 tablespoons of sugar to the egg whites) until soft peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into thoroughly cooled pumpkin filling. Pour mixture into pie shell. Chill until set. Top with whipped cream.
