Chiffon pie

A chiffon pie is a type of pie that consists of a special type of airy filling in a crust. The filling is typically produced by folding meringue into a mixture resembling fruit curd (most commonly lemon) that has been thickened with unflavored gelatin to provide a light, airy texture; it is thus distinguished from a cream pie or mousse pie, which achieve lightness by folding in whipped cream rather than meringue. This filling is then put into a pre-baked pie shell of variable composition and chilled.^[1][2][3] This same technique can also be used with canned pumpkin to produce pumpkin chiffon pie.^[4][5]

The preparation of a mock chiffon pie can be simplified by using flavored gelatin mix and artificial whipped cream substitute.^[6]

The chiffon pie was invented in Los Angeles in 1926 by Monroe Boston Strause, who was known as the Pie King.^[7] The original recipe called for beaten egg whites to be folded into a cornstarch-thickened liquid.^[8] Strause was dissatisfied with existing cream pies and had been made ill by a cornstarch pudding as a child.^[9] Strause claimed it was his mother who compared it to chiffon when she first saw it.^[9]

Besides the new filling, the pie also introduced dome-shaped filling and graham-cracker crust.^[9]

The popularity of the pie was such that Strause traveled as much as 30,000 miles a year teaching the technique to hotels and restaurants.^[9]