Carolyne is back to bring you the final recipe of the Drunken Girl Scout project. And honestly, it looks delicious. To quote her email to me “this pie is stupid good. highly recommended even without the limoncello.” I hope you all enjoy her lemon chiffon pie!
Before this recipe, I had never actually tasted a Savannah Smile. Debuting in 2012 to celebrate the Girl Scouts’ 100th anniversary, it’s a crunchy, powder-sugar coated, wedge-shaped cookie that is not at all subtle about its lemon flavoring. Each cookie is like an entire lemon bar’s worth of lemon shoved into one teeny cookie. And so I decided to pair this cookie with another not-so-subtle lemon flavor: limoncello. And these two super-lemon ingredients have created a lemon chiffon pie that is light and fluffy and just the right notes of lemon.
A couple things to note about this recipe: you’ll really want to smash those cookies up. Put them in a ziplock back and whack ‘em with a wooden spoon, or crush them with a rolling pin, or whatever your preferred method is. You want them crushed pretty fine, but stop right before they basically turn to sand. Depending on the size of your pie plate (I used an 8.5 inch round cake pan) you may not have enough cookie crust to make it up the sides, which is totally fine. It’s technically a tart at this point, but who’s gonna argue semantics when it tastes so good?
You are also definitely going to want to use an electric mixer for this one – it can be a hand mixer or a stand mixer, but there’s a lot of eggs and cream to whip, so I don’t recommend trying to do it by hand, except when your yolk mixture is on the stove.
Now that the weather is beginning to get warmer I’m looking forward to summer BBQs and porch drinking, and this pie is the perfect accompaniment. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 package Savannah Smiles cookies, crushed
- ¼ cup melted butter
- 4 eggs, separated
- 2/3 cup sugar (plus a little extra for the whipped cream)
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons limoncello
- 1 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
- 1/3 cup water
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- vanilla
Instructions
- Crush cookies, then set aside about ¼ cup of any larger pieces for garnish later. Combine the rest with the melted butter, then press into a pie plate and refrigerate while you make the filling.
- Using a mixer with a whip attachment, whisk together the yolks and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy, then add the lemon juice, limoncello, and zest. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, and cook, whisking by hand, until thickened, about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, sprinkle the gelatin over cold water and let dissolve.
- Remove the yolk mixture from the heat and whisk in the gelatin until dissolved. Place the mixture over an ice bath and stir with a rubber spatula to cool it. Once it's room temperature remove it from the ice bath and let it sit while you whip the meringue.
- Place the egg whites in a clean dry bowl and whip on medium speed until foamy; then turn up to high and continue whipping until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and whip until glossy and sugar has dissolved. Fold the whites into the cooked yolks in small batches, taking care not to break down the whites as much as possible. The more intact the whites are, the fluffier your pie will be.
- Pour the mixture into the cooled pie shell. Put the pie back into the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Whip the heavy whipping cream, adding sugar and a touch of vanilla to taste. Before serving, top pie with whipping cream and sprinkle the remaining cookie pieces on top.