Easy Chiffon Pie — The Pie I Bring to Wherever I Am Going

Memorial Day weekend. The third Memorial Day since Marcus, the second since Bernice. The block party happened this year—actual block party, first one since 2019, Miss Harris back at the door with her folding table and her organizational genius—and I went, with sweet potato pie, with the same pie I brought in 2019, the pie that said: I am here, I am still here, I am bringing what I bring to wherever I am going. The pie went in the first twenty minutes. Second year running. The neighborhood knows what I bring.

I said a prayer for Miss Harris in my car on the way home. She is eighty-two years old and she organized that block party in the pandemic, in the year of the vaccines, in the year when things are beginning to be possible again, and she did it with the same quality of practical love she has always brought to it: the attention to the details that make people feel welcome, the folding tables in the right configuration, the sign-up sheet for contributions, the welcome that says this block is a community and the community is showing up. She is somebody's Bernice. She has been feeding this neighborhood for twenty-five years the same way Bernice fed Bessemer. I see it. I honor it. Next year I am going to make two pies.

June is coming and the filming and the wedding in October and the ordinary life of a woman who is fifty-one years old and has been through a great deal and is still here, still cooking, still at the table on Tuesdays and the kitchen on Saturdays and the front pew on Sundays and the back porch in the evenings with the sweet tea going warm and the fireflies coming out. Still here. More than that: still me. Still Loretta Mae Simms from Bessemer, Alabama, still Bernice's daughter, still Marcus's mother, still the woman who was born in a kitchen and will probably die in one, and who has not the smallest complaint about either fact.

The sweet potato pie I brought this year is mine and mine alone—Bernice’s hands in the recipe, my hands in the making—and I’m not giving away what’s kept. But for anyone who wants to show up to a table with something light and generous, something that says I thought of you when I made this, this Easy Chiffon Pie is the one. It travels well, it feeds a crowd without a fuss, and it has the same quality I look for in any dish I carry out of my kitchen: it is honest, it is complete, and it does not apologize for being simple.

Easy Chiffon Pie

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 3 hrs 30 min (includes chilling) | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 pre-baked 9-inch pie shell (store-bought or homemade)
• 1 envelope (1/4 oz) unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• Whipped cream and a light dusting of nutmeg, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Bloom the gelatin. Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over the cold water in a small bowl. Let it sit undisturbed for 5 minutes until it softens and swells.
2. Cook the custard base. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and salt over medium-low heat. Stir constantly for 8–10 minutes until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let it boil.
3. Dissolve the gelatin into the custard. Remove the saucepan from heat. Add the bloomed gelatin and stir until fully dissolved. Stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let it cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes, then refrigerate until it begins to mound slightly when dropped from a spoon, 30–45 minutes.
4. Beat the egg whites. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar using a hand mixer on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat on high until stiff, glossy peaks form.
5. Whip the cream. In a separate chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks.
6. Fold and combine. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled gelatin custard until just combined. Then fold in the beaten egg whites in two additions, working carefully to keep the filling light and airy.
7. Fill the shell. Spoon the chiffon filling into the pre-baked pie shell, mounding it slightly in the center. Smooth the top gently with a spatula.
8. Chill until set. Refrigerate the pie for at least 2 1/2 hours, or until firmly set. Cover loosely with plastic wrap after the first hour.
9. Serve. Slice with a clean knife and serve cold, topped with a dollop of whipped cream and a pinch of nutmeg if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 290 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 17g | Carbs: 29g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 160mg