Pie-a-Day #52: Honey Guava Chiffon Pie

Honey Guava Chiffon Pie

previous fruit pie inspired me to go back to Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Pie and Pastry Bible and attempt another beauty.

I still wanted to make another Ice Box Pie because of the heat so I paged through the book and found a picture of her Honey Comb Chiffon Pie. She uses bubble wrap to create a honeycomb pattern on the top of the pie and spoons an apricot glaze to continue the conceit. Of course she makes ganache bees to finish it off. Needless to say, my pie was sans bees. But the idea of using bubblewrap to create a design sounded too genius for me to avoid it.

I didn’t have any apricot preserves in the house but did have some fine strawberry guava jelly made by my friend Renee that was a light rose color.

This was one of those RLB pies that require 3 bowls (or was it four?), but it was worth it. First you cook up a custard of egg yolks, honey, milk, and,….gelatin! Yet another thickener enters my life. I thought this was very clever. You get the rich smooth taste and texture of an egg-thickened custard with with the insurance of the gelatin.

If I can make all chiffon pies taste this good I’ll add another kind of pie to my comfort zone. It was absolutely delicious with a light texture that just made me want to fork up bite after bite.