Many fruits are available year round, but some fruits are available only for a few weeks each year. Cranberries are one of those fruits. I crave them for months, and am excited when they finally begin to appear in the produce aisle at the store. This fall, I saw them for the first time last week. I immediately began searching through my hundred-year-old cookbooks for cranberry recipes.
I found a recipe for Pink Chiffon Pie which is made using cranberries, and decided to give it a try.
The Pink Chiffon Pie was smooth and silky with the sweetness of the sugar in the filling nicely balancing the tart cranberries. It was tasty and looked lovely; however, if you decide to make this pie, be sure to set aside sufficient time. It is a relatively complicated recipe.
Here’s the original recipe:
When I selected this recipe, it looked easy – not very many ingredients and directions that, based on a quick scan, sounded straight forward. Then I started making the recipe and discovered that it was more challenging than I anticipated.
I had lots of questions. How large is the pie shell/pan? The amounts called for in the recipe seemed fairly small – so it probably was for a 7 or 8-inch pie. I decided to make a 9-inch pie, so I doubled all ingredients. The recipe called for a baked pie shell – so I needed to make and pre-bake a pie shell prior to beginning this recipe.
I was also was not sure whether the recipe called for 1 cup of raw cranberries or for 1 cup of cranberries that had previously been cooked. I decided to assume that it meant raw cranberries. That decision led to my next question. How much water should be added to the cranberries prior to cooking? I decided to go with 1/3 cup of water.
Once the cranberries were cooked, I tried to strain them, I was able to press relatively little liquid through the strainer, so I used a Foley mill to more thoroughly strain and mash the cooked cranberries. A food processor could also be used to puree the cranberries.
It was tricky cooking the egg-rich chiffon so that the pie filling was smooth, and the egg did not separate out while cooking. It is important to cook the filling until it barely begins to bubble. And, it is vital to not rush cooking the filling, and to stir it vigorously and constantly to prevent the filling on the bottom of the pan from scorching.
I skipped garnishing the pie with confectioners’ sugar, and instead served it with whipped cream.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Pink Chiffon Pie (Cranberry Chiffon Pie)
1 baked 9-inch pie shell
2 cups cranberries
1/3 cup water
8 egg yolks + 4 egg whites
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar + 1 cup sugar
confections’ sugar, if desired
whipped cream, if desired
Wash cranberries, then put them in a saucepan and add the water. Bring to a boil using medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer until all of the cranberries have softened and burst (about 8-10 minutes). Remove from the heat and press through a strainer. (I used a Foley mill.)
Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth, then add 1 cup of sugar and beat. Add the pureed cranberries and continue beating. Put mixture in a saucepan; add butter. Heat, using medium heat, until the cranberry mixture gets very thick; stir constantly. Remove from heat when the mixture is barely beginning to bubble.
In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Then add a small amount of the hot cranberry mixture, while beating continuously. (Be sure to add only a small amount of the cranberry mixture and beat it in immediately to prevent the egg whites from cooking.) Continue adding small amounts of the cranberry mixture while continuing to beat.
After all the cranberry mixture has been incorporated into the egg whites, return the mixture to the saucepan. Using medium heat, cook until the mixture barely begins to boil; stir constantly and vigorously. (This mixture will easily scorch on the bottom of the pan. It is vital to stir continuously and vigorously with the spoon while regularly scraping the bottom of the pan. A double boiler could be used to reduce the possibility of scorching the mixture.) Remove from heat and spoon the cranberry chiffon filling into the previously baked pie shell.
If desired, lightly sprinkle confections’ sugar on the pie to garnish. Refrigerate until the pie is cold (at least 2 hours).
If desired, serve pie with whipped cream.
This looks like something my mom would have made for Sunday dinner back in the day!
PS Did you know that cranberries will keep for months in your crisper? I’ve kept them from December through March, with only a few turning soggy. Also, they freeze beautifully!
Yep…I bag cranberries in 1 cup amounts and add them to bake goods most of the year!!! I prefer them to the dried ones because they have a nice pop of flavor in baked goods.
I saw a documentary on the annual harvest of cranberries and it was quite fascinating!
Wow, I had no clue that cranberries would keep for so long in the refrigerator. Thanks for the tip.
I had some in a paper bag after Christmas one year. I deliberately left them and kept monitoring them. In March, I finally used them, just a few to toss, and I think they could have made it a bit longer. I think the paper bag was the key.
I’m going to have to try this. Cranberries can make a lovely garnish. As an aside, I went to a cooking demo on Saturday where they made a Thanksgiving punch and tossed in a few cranberries, pomegranate seeds, and orange slices. It looked lovely.
Oh, the punch sounds really lovely! I’ll have to keep that in mind for Thanksgiving.
The pie is so pretty! The recipe looked easy enough, but after reading your points, I could see how misleading that thought was.
The pie was lovely and very tasty, but it was a little more complicated to make than the typical recipes that I make for this blog.
I love cranberries and usually keen some in the freezer. But no..zi probably will not try this. AT my age I get confused easily. Lol
🙂 I’ve made lots of cranberry recipes over the years for this blog, many which are less complicated than this one. My personal favorites are:
Cranberry Conserve
Jellied Cranberry Sauce with Celery and Walnuts
I first made them for this blog, and they have become part of my repertoire of recipes that I regularly make. You can find all the cranberry recipes I’ve made by going to Fruits and then scrolling down to Cranberries.
So the big question is “will you make it again”?
I saw your question this morning and thought a lot about it. The pie is delicious and it looks lovely. I ate another piece of it this afternoon, and it is absolutely a pie that is worth making. That said, I personally tend to prefer to make recipes that are relatively easy to make, and may not make it again. But, if you enjoy the challenge of making a pie that is somewhat difficult to make, I’d encourage you to give it a try.
It is a very pretty dessert. I prefer cranberry sauce made from fresh berries, and add orange juice to mine which makes them not quite so tart and provides additional flavor. I am certain I would eat this pie, but pretty sure I would not work this hard to make one. Chiffon type pies are usually quite pretty and tasty however!
Like you, I prefer to make my own cranberry sauce rather than buying the canned version. It is a very pretty pie and very tasty. I think that I just underestimated how much time it takes to make a chiffon pie, and then felt rushed.
This is a recipe that would never have appeared in a British cookery book 100 years ago. We’ve only had access to cranberries for maybe 25 years or so I think.
I think that cranberries are native to North America, and that they are fairly easy to transport, so they’ve been widely available in the Fall here for a long time.
Lucky you! They don’t (won’t?) grow here.
Cranberries are commercially grown on boggy land in a few northern areas of the U.S. I know they are grown in parts of Wisconsin and Massachusetts, and maybe a few other states.
Washington and Oregon…
When I was growing up in Iowa, there was a famous restaurant in Marshalltown that served it’s Mile High Lemon Chiffon pie. I finally found the recipe and a bit of history here. My eye doctor was in Marshalltown, about a half hour away, and every time we made the trip, a stop at Stone’s for that lemon pie was a must! Now that your cranberry pie’s reminded me of it, it’s time to make it again.
What a lovely food memory! Mile High Lemon Chiffon Pie sounds wonderful. I enjoyed reading the history of it, and how Duncan Hines encouraged Stone’s to re-open after WWII. I then clicked on the link for Duncan Hines. I was surprised to learn that he had been a traveling salesman who ate at lots of restaurants and then published a restaurant guide – and then lent his name to cake mixes and other food products.
I admire you for all the time you put into this! I’m sure it was delightful! I love cranberries but as you know I’m not one to do complicated.😁
You and I are the same kind of cooks – we both tend to avoid complicated recipes.
it looks so pretty and yummy!
It was tasty and looked lovely.
Totally new to me! Looks good.
It’s yummy.
Golly Sheryl. I love a good cranberry but that’s too much work for me! I’ll just add the cranberries to my apple pie for a little color and zip… I usually buy a couple bags of cranberries right after Thanksgiving when they are on clearance. I freeze them and then can use then as I so desire!
mmm. . . Combining cranberries with apples works for me. I’ll have to try freezing cranberries.
I like cranberries too and look forward to fall for recipes. This one sounds good but I don’t know that i would make it because of the number of eggs used. I add cranberries to pumpkin bread, make a raw relish with an orange, or add to pies.
II never thought of adding cranberries to pumpkin bread. That combination would make a really attractive bread. At least the price of eggs has come way down recently. I just about fell over last week when eggs were on sale for only $1.89 a dozen at the store where I shop.
Didn’t even need to read the recipe to know I wanted to make it.
It’s tasty.
This is a slice of pure bliss!
It does make a pretty pie.