A Pie……for America!

7.1.16

Fourth of July Weekend has officially begun. I’m sure for most it began yesterday, taking a nice long weekend to have some fun in the sun.  I’m actually  in San Francisco, tagging along as my husband plays a few venues in the area over the weekend.  I look forward to sharing some pictures from the trip soon, but as I promised, you get three holiday recipes this week.  I saved this one for last on purpose.

This is a pie that is not super easy to make.  It was my first encounter with powdered gelatin. The contradictory ways of allowing gelatin to “bloom,” or rehydrate, online are astounding.  This recipe says boil the liquid you pour the gelatin into, that recipe, discussing the basics of gelatin, say boiling water is a huge no-no because it will deactivate the firming qualities of it. I made the filling for this pie three times, and only the third time was it correct.  I made a hybrid of a recipe from here and here and here to create my own in a way that has directions I hope are easy to understand and follow. I read a lot about the qualities of gelatin, about troubleshooting and baking with. I saved this recipe for last because this pie represents America, or what people came to America for in the first place.  In my opinion, America is a hard place to climb nowadays, and being stuck or disheartened is easy.  But like this pie, hopefully with determination, focus, and persistence, something beautiful will come of your time in this country.  Something as beautiful as a watermelon chiffon pie.

My friend Jess posted a recipe for this on my Facebook a while ago as a wink wink, nudge nudge. I’ve been holding out making it, a little intimidated.  But once I jumped in, and failed, there was no way I was letting this pie control me. THIS PIE WAS NOT THE BOSS OF ME.  And I made this pie my bitch, and it ended up perfect and picturesque……three tries later.

For the Filling

 I used a good old tin pan for this pie, because if/when you make this to bring to the cookout or the potluck, let’s be honest, that’s what you’ll bring it in! Easy to carry, easily thrown away so the trip back home is less burdensome.  And if you bring this pie, you will be the talk of the town.  It’s pretty impressive looking, and the consistency is fascinating….gelatin, who knew.  Well, everyone I suppose.

Grab the recipe for the pie crust I use here.

My final attempt at the pie was late after work, around 11:30pm.  This picture is terrible in all lighting aspects, but I think it’s important to see the color and overall look of the filling before pouring it into the crust as a guide for when you make it.

Perfectly fluffy, and no joke, it definitely tastes like watermelon.  Pure watermelon.  It’s sweet, and one piece is enough for me, but if this is your flavor, you will be in heaven. Pie heaven, and that’s the best one of them all.

Look at those fun bubbles!  And the bits of watermelon speckled throughout gives it such a great aesthetic.

I failed on this pie, as I’ve made mistakes in the past. This pie was hard, just like our forefathers setting up a new nation. But you know what, I am totally like the forefathers because just like they established a new country, I established a new skill and I was determined as a motherfucker to create this, like they were determined to break from the British.  So basically we’re the same, the forefathers and I.

I hope whether you are at the beach, a backyard, a patio, your living room, on the river watching fireworks, you have a wonderful weekend. Making these recipes this week has been a blast, and even though they’re themed around red white and blue, they can really be made anytime and be just as tasty.  See you next week! Did I mention I bought a popsicle mold…….

Watermelon Pie

Ingredients

• 1 pie crust
• 3 cups cubed watermelon
• juice of one lime
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 Tbsp gelatin

Instructions

• Roll our pie crust , prick with a fork all over and place parchment paper in the center, filling with pie weights or dry beans
• Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, remove crust from oven, remove parchment paper and beans and bake for another 7-10 minutes. [when placing back in an oven add a pie shield if the edges are browning too much]
• Allow crust to fully cool before filling
• Take cubed watermelon and puree in blender or food processor
• Pour puree through sieve into a bowl to remove seeds and excess pulp, do it a second time if juice needs it
• Pour half of juice into a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin (do not dump) all over the top of juice and allow to ‘bloom’ for about 5 minutes (make sure juice is room temperature to begin with)
• Take second half of juice and place in microwave for 30-40 seconds to heat up, you do not want it to boil
• Slowly whisk heated juice into gelatin juice and allow to combine, add in lime juice and whisk to combine
• Place in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes to begin to firm up
• As watermelon firms, whip egg white with a whisk attachment in a stand up mixer until stiff peaks form, set aside
• In a second chilled mixing bowl, whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form, then add confectioners sugar and beat until stiff peaks form
• Once watermelon has begun to firm remove about 3/4 of whipped cream from mixing bowl and add in all of firmed watermelon, whisk on low-medium until smooth
• Add in the rest of whipped cream and carefully fold in with a spatula
• Add in whipped egg white and fold in with a spatula, until no white streaks remain
• Pour into cooled crust and chill overnight
• Enjoy chilled with whipped cream

P.S.

*This was used to fill a shallow 8″ pie pan. Have a bigger pie pan? Simply double the recipe and you should be good
*Normally 1 packet of gelatin is said to equal 1 tbsp. It’s a farce. All packets are different, measure it out!!
*You can heat up the juice on the stove first, but every time is just seemed to get too hot to fast for me and I’d ruin the gelatin