Ultimate Cook Book_ 900 New Recipes, Thousands of Ideas - Bruce Weinstein [400]
Pour the cookie crumbs into a large bowl; stir in the melted butter and 1½ tablespoons sugar until moistened. Press into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate, making sure there are no cracks in the crust and that the crumbs are evenly spread across the plate.
Bake until firm, about 7 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 1 hour.
Place 2 cups raspberries in a fine-mesh sieve and set it over a medium bowl. Use the back of a wooden spoon to press and wipe the berries against the mesh, thereby removing the seeds and letting the puree drip into the bowl. (You may need to wipe the puree off the bottom of the sieve a few times to aid its dripping.) Set aside.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the juice in a small bowl; set aside for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the cream in a large saucepan over medium heat until a few puffs of steam come off the surface.
Beat the egg yolks and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed in a large bowl until quite thick, velvety, and pale yellow.
Beating all the while, slowly pour half the warmed cream into the beaten egg yolk mixture, then return this combined mixture to the saucepan with the remaining cream. Keeping the heat at low, stir constantly until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 1 minute.
Strain through a clean fine-mesh sieve into a large, clean bowl. Stir in the softened gelatin and juice until smooth, then stir in the prepared raspberry puree and raspberry liqueur. Refrigerate until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.
Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer at medium speed in large bowl until frothy. Beating all the while, add the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in a slow stream; continue beating until you can make smooth, soft, silky waves with a rubber spatula.
Fold the beaten egg whites into the berry mixture with the rubber spatula until uniform. Return to the refrigerator until the mixture can hold its shape without flattening out on a spoon, about 30 minutes. Spread into the cooled prebaked crust; garnish with fresh raspberries and shaved chocolate, if desired.
To store: The pie can be tightly covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Raspberry Mint Chiffon Pie: Add ½ teaspoon mint extract with the raspberry liqueur.
Blackberry Chiffon Pie: Substitute 3 cups (1½ pints) blackberries for the raspberries.
Raspberry Daiquiri Chiffon Pie: Substitute white rum for the white grape juice, substitute lime juice for the raspberry liqueur, and add 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest with the white rum.
Raspberry Ginger Chiffon Pie: Substitute gingersnap cookies for the chocolate cookies in the crust; garnish the pie with Sweetened Whipped Cream and chopped crystallized ginger instead of shaved chocolate.
Raspberry Rum Chiffon Pie: Substitute dark rum such as Myers’s for the white grape juice.
Peach Melba Chiffon Pie: Line the piecrust with 2 peaches, pitted and thinly sliced; also substitute Peach Schnapps, Peach Brandy, or canned peach nectar for the white grape juice.
Linzer Torte Chiffon Pie: Substitute almond cookies for the chocolate cookies; also substitute an almond-flavored liqueur such as Amaretto for the white grape juice.
Frozen Mai Tai Pie
Here’s a frozen cocktail in a cookie crust. Makes one 9-inch frozen pie
35 vanilla wafer cookies
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Two ¼-ounce packages unflavored gelatin or 5 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup gold or white rum
¼ cup almond syrup, such as Orgeat
Two 11-ounce cans mandarin orange segments, drained, segments chopped
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cold heavy cream
1/3 cup shredded sweetened coconut, toasted until lightly browned
Crumble the wafer cookies in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade, add 2 tablespoons