Chiffon pie is delicious and requires no baking of the filling. It’s quick, easy, pretty, fluffy and really fun to eat!
Many chiffon pie recipes call for uncooked beaten egg whites. Given the salmonella issues with raw eggs, I’m not comfortable with that technique. Instead, I use whipped cream for fluff and gelatin for firmness. I used the Cook’s Illustrated recipe for Lemon Chiffon Pie for inspiration. I’ve adapted and modified it to be low carb and sugar and gluten free.
Here’s an overview of how to make lemon chiffon pie: Make a crust, bake it and cool it. The filling is made in 2 parts – cook the lemon mixture and cool it. Make whipped cream, and then mix the two. Pour the mixture into the waiting pie crust and refrigerate. The crust and pie need to cool for 2 hours so make sure to plan accordingly. My low carb and gluten free Almond Flour Crust works great for this recipe.
This is not very much work but looks quite fancy. This pie made everyone at our dinner party very happy!
- Almond Flour Crust in 9" pie plate, fully baked and cooled
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
- 3/4 cup xylitol plus a little more to taste if necessary, divided
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice
- 4 large egg yolks
- 5 teaspoons grated lemon peel, divided
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups chilled heavy cream
- Put water in small bowl, sprinkle gelatin on top and let sit until ready to use.
- In a medium saucepan, whisk 1/2 cup xylitol, lemon juice, egg yolks, 4 teaspoons lemon peel, and salt, until mixed. Whisk over medium heat until mixture registers 160° F. If you don't have a thermometer, whisk about 6-8 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly. Make sure not to boil. Taste after 3 minutes and add a little more xylitol if desired.
- Remove from heat and whisk in gelatin mixture. Place saucepan in refrigerator, or transfer to a bowl, and let cool, uncovered, until lemon mixture is cool to the touch, about 30- 45 minutes. It's OK if it cools for longer and gets firm.
- Make whipped cream: Pour cream into the bowl of a standing mixer or a large bowl. Using the standing mixer with whisk attachment, or an electric mixer, beat cream and 3/8 cup xylitol on medium speed until it starts to thicken. Increase speed to medium high and then high and continue beating until medium-stiff peaks form. Taste when partially beaten and add a little more xylitol to taste if you'd like it sweeter.
- Add cooled lemon mixture to whipped cream in bowl and beat on medium-low until fully mixed. This will take about a minute if the lemon mixture is not completely firm. If the lemon mixture is firm, than it will take a few minutes to fully incorporate the lemon and whipped cream.
- Using a spatula, scrape mixture into cooled pie crust and smooth. Refrigerate pie until filling is set, about 2-3 hours. Decorate top with 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel if desired.
This looks delicious but it ruins the health benefits by including a HUGE amount of heavy cream!!! Any alternatives?
Hi,
Well I disagree with you that heavy cream is not healthful and so would a lot of other people who advocate a full-fat diet. The pie serves at least 8. Which means that each person is only eating 1 1/4 oz. of cream.
However, I realize that there are lots of different dietary points of view. So to answer your question, you could try using the coconut whipped cream from this site. I’ve never tried it so am not sure that it will work. You’ve given me a good idea and that’s next on my to-try list. I’ll let you know when I do. If you do try it I’d love it if you would report back.
Back to heavy cream being good or bad for you – the whole Paleo crowd advocates a full-fat diet. Technically dairy is not considered Paleo but it seems to fall into a gray area. If you’re interested I’d recommend going to the “About” section of my blog and reading some of the articles under the heading “Does Eating Saturated Fat Cause Heart Disease.”
Thanks for your question,
Lisa
Thank you for such a thorough answer, Lisa. I greatly appreciate your time.
I want both healthful and low fat recipes!! My family gets plenty of fats from nuts and seeds as well as organic butter and olive oil. I agree that healthful fats are necessary but too much is adding unnecessary calories. I’ll be watching for your other recipes that might fit with my needs better. Too bad…I love lemon desserts!!
Love the site. Keep up the good work.
What does THM-S mean?
Hi Kathy,
I don’t understand what you’re referring to.
Have you ever made it with splenda vs xylitol? I am not fond of the xylitol taste.
Hi Tony,
I haven’t made it with splenda. My understanding is that splenda isn’t good for you. If you’re interested in learning more about that, a good place to start is https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/18/sucralose-side-effects.aspx
I understand not loving the taste of xylitol. Lately I’ve been using coconut sugar. But if that’s not low glycemic or low carb enough for you another good substitute is erythritol (also sold under the brand name Swerve).