Another Thanksgiving Dessert

With the Pumpkin Bars, a store bought traditional Pumpkin Pie, this is the final Pumpkin Dessert for this year's Thanksgiving Dinner.

I saw the recipe on Simply Recipe-a food blog that inspired me to try to my hand it. Visit the site when you have a chance, some great stuff over there.

I did a dry run of this pie almost two months ago. It was super easy and really tasty. I am going to offer some of my suggestions at the end.

Chiffon Pumpkin Pie

Crust Ingredients:
2 cups crushed gingersnaps (few pulses in a food processor)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
6 TB melted butter

Filling Ingredients:
1 envelope gelatin
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs, seperated
1/2 cup rum
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups pure pumpkin (or puree from 1/2 a medium sugar pumpkin)
1 cup heavy cream, softly whipped, for topping
Extra crushed gingersnaps (for garnish)

Crust Instructions:
Set the oven at 325. Have on hand a 9 inch deep dish pie pan. Butter it lightly.

In a bowl, combine the crushed gingersnaps, sugar, ginger and butter. Press the mixture into the pie plate with the back of a spoon, making the top edge even all around. Bake the crust for 8-15 minutes, until it is lightly browned. (Baking time depends on the oven and on the type of pie dish you are using--a ceramic dish will take longer because it takes longer to heat up.)

Filling Directions:
In a heavy-saucepan, combine the gelatin, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, milk and egg yolks. Stir thoroughly. Set the pan over medium heat and cook gently, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly. Do not let it boil.

Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool. Add the pumpkin puree and the rum. Refrigerate the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it thickens enough to form mounds.

In an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and granulated sugar until they form stiff peaks. Stir a few spoonfuls of the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture, then fold in the remaining whites.

Pour the filling into the cooled crust. Refrigerate for several hours.

Just before serving, spoon the whipped cream onto the filling and garnish with crushed gingersnaps.


NOTES:
I plan to omit the extra ginger in the crust. The gingersnaps that I used were particularly strong, so the extra ginger became overpowering.

I think I plan to double the nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon in the pie filling. I feel that the amounts that are listed give the pie a barely spiced flavor.

I used the full amount of rum when I made this and it over powered the whole thing. I'm going to only do 2 TB when I make it again. I'm sure you can also omit completely if you like.