Frost on the Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

My eldest is enrolled in an Autism class in the local school system.  As a part of this program, they have lately been doing a "Fun Food Friday," and this week was their "Thanksgiving Feast."  Somewhat to my surprise, she apparently loved the pumpkin pie.  Now, at my house, we're not terribly fond of traditional pumpkin pie.  Thus,  I went on a hunt for a chiffon pie recipe that I made around 10 years ago.  My faulty memory recorded it as being called "Frost on the Pumpkin Pie" - but a search for that turned up various iterations of a recipe that involved purchased frosting.  Not what I was looking for at all.  Below follows the version I came up with from memory - more or less.

I recall that the original may have had a crumb crust, but I had no gluten-free cookies on hand, so I went with a standard blind baked pie crust.  I used this recipe for mine.  Next, things get a little... different.

4 egg yolks
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. milk
1 1/4 c. pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice - commercial or homemade
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 c. whipping cream, divided
2 Tbsp vanilla sugar (or plain granulated sugar)In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together egg yolks, brown sugar, milk, pumpkin puree, spices, and salt.

In a small bowl, combine water and vanilla.  Sprinkle gelatin powder over the top and allow to bloom.  Set aside.
Continue to cook the pumpkin custard mixture until in begins to boil and thickens slightly.  Remove from heat and stir 2-3 minutes until cooled a little.  Pour about 3/4 c. of hot mixture into bowl containing gelatine mixture.  Whisk until gelatin is dissolved, then stir back into custard in saucepan.  Pour the mixture into bowl and place in the refrigerator.  Stir occasionally until mixture is cooled and starts to take on an egg white-like consistency.

Remove the mixture from the refrigerator and set aside.  (This process can be speeded by putting the bowl containing the pumpkin mixture into an icewater bath and stirring constantly until the correct consistency is reached.  Either way, be careful not to overchill the mixture or it will set and will not combine with the cream correctly.)
In a chilled bowl, whip 1 c. of the whipping cream until it holds its shape

Whisk about 1/4 of the cream into the pumpkin gelatin mixture to lighten it.

Then gently fold in the rest of cream, being careful not to deflate it by overworking.

Pour the resulting mixture into the pie shell and refrigerate.

Once the pie is chilled, whip the remaining 1 c. of cream to soft peaks.  Sprinkle the 2 Tbsp of vanilla sugar (Plain sugar is fine, if you don't have vanilla sugar.  I put "used" vanilla beans into a canister with sugar and make my own, so it's always handy.) onto the cream and continue whipping until the cream holds its shape.  Spread on top of the pumpkin filling.
The result is lighter than a baked custard pumpkin pie, but retains the traditional flavor.  I suspect it will be a Thanksgiving tradition here from now on - judging from the way dessert plates have been scraped clean.

Like this pie?
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