Watermelon Chiffon Pie

Submitted by ncmysteryshopper

"This feather-light chiffon pie has the subtle but distinct flavor of watermelon; as well it should, since there are nearly three cups of watermelon juice in the filling. That juice is thickened with gelatin, and then blended with whipped cream and beaten egg whites to give the filling that airy chiffon texture we all love. The pie makes a luscious summer dessert for any gathering of friends or family. It looks cool garnished with watermelon balls, but don’t garnish until the last moment to prevent juice buildup on the plates. This recipe is best made at the height of watermelon season. Cooking time is fridge time."

 

• Ready In: 4hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 10-12

ingredients

• 1 graham cracker crumb crust (Store bought or homemade)

• Filling

• 6 cups watermelon (seeds are fine)
• 1⁄3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin (aka, two envelopes)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 cup cold heavy cream or 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

• Garnish

• confectioners' sugar, to dust
• whipped cream (homemade or store bought)

directions

1. Place a medium sized bowl and a set of beaters in the refrigerator to chill.
2. Bake pie crust according to directions and let cool; Refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Combine the watermelon and granulated sugar in a very large bowl; using a potato masher, mash until the mixture is quite liquid; set aside for 15 minutes.
4. After 15 minutes, drain the mixture through a strainer, reserving almost 2 ¾ cups of the watermelon juice and then discard pulp and seeds.
5. Put ¼ cup of the juice in a medium size bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it; set aside for 3 to 4 minutes to dissolve.
6. Heat ½ cup of the juice in a small saucepan over medium heat (or in the microwave) to a near boil; whisk the hot juice into the dissolved gelatin.
7. Pour the remaining 2 cups watermelon juice into a large bowl an stir in the gelatin-watermelon juice mixture; stir in the lime juice; place in refrigerator.
8. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites in a medium size bowl until stiff peaks form; set aside; clean and dry beaters;
9. Using the chilled medium-size bowl and chilled beaters, beat the heavy cream with the mixer until it holds soft peaks; add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth and stiff but not grainy; refrigerate.
10. When the watermelon juice mixture starts to firm up, add about one-quarter of the whipped cream and beat with the electric mixer until smooth.
11. Add the beaten egg whites and remaining whipped cream and gently fold them in with a large rubber spatula; if necessary, use a whisk-very briefly- to smooth the mixture and break up any large globs of whites or whipped cream;
12. Pour the filling into the cooled pie shell; shake to settle; cover with loosely tented aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
13. To serve, garnish each slice with a dusting of confections’ sugar, and then add a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.

Reviews

[joanna_giselle]

I found an almost identical recipe to this translated into Greek in a promotional leaflet for margarine, believe it or not! I made the recipe years ago and still remember the lovely refreshing taste it had. My only problem was that the crust went soggy the second day so this needs to be eaten quickly.

 

[Inge 1505]

WOW. This was sooo good and unusual, at least for me. I had never thought of serving watermelon this way until I saw the recipe. I am so glad I did, the pie was simply delicious! Pure, fine watermelon flavor, only the slightest little bit enhanced by some lime juice. The melt in your mouth fluffy texture of the filling contrasted perfectly with the crumbly rich crust that I had homemade, sneaking in a few coconut biscotti for a mere hint of coconut. Yum! Thank you for a wonderful new way to eat watermelon. :)

 

[InBlackAndLace]

I had a very hard time making this pie. The directions weren't very clear as to exactly how much watermelon juice I needed so I ended up wasting a ton of perfectly good watermelon because I was under the impression that I needed 6 cups instead of 3 1/2. Also, the pie stinks to high heaven when it's all said and done. My entire refridgerator stinks now. I hate to sound whiny, but for all that effort (prep time took a couple hours and it took 4 hours to solidify in the fridge), it really doesn't taste all that great. If you really REALLY like things that are overly sweet, then I guess this is for you. But considering all the sugar that went into this pie (granulated sugar plus confectioner's sugar), you would think that more than 1 tablespoon of lime juice would be used to counteract the sweetness. If I make this pie again, I'm going to cut out 1 cup of watermelon juice and replace it with lime juice to balance out the jaw-twinging sweetness. ~christine~

 

[kathyharvey928]

Never again! This was the most time intensive time consuming pie I’ve made in a long time. I used my juicer and it was a huge mess. It didn’t have much flavor at all. I followed the recipe exactly. It really needs a big punch of flavor from more lime or lemon or something

 

[jerkyman3]

this is a nice summer dessert recipe. Thanks