Alinea's Clear Pumpkin Pie Goes Viral

CHICAGO, IL — Chefs at Alinea have unveiled a modern, surreal twist on a Thanksgiving tradition: clear pumpkin pie. Photos of the pie have taken social media by storm and have been featured in countless articles over the past few weeks. The dessert is part of the restaurant's 20-course fall tasting menu.

Chef de cuisine Simon Davies and executive chef Mike Bagale are behind the creation, which is a distillation of pumpkin pie—still retaining the classic flavor—set in gelatin inside a traditional pie crust.

The chefs said the pumpkins for the pie come from an organic farm outside Chicago. Cloves, ginger and cinnamon are distilled down to render the clear filling. And classic ingredients are used for the traditional crust: heavy cream, all-purpose flour, butter, Tahitian vanilla, sugar, water, and salt. And of course, a tiny dollop of whipped cream sits on top.

"We put the pumpkin pie stock under a vacuum, and that stock boils at room temperature. Because it’s boiling, it’s evaporating, and that evaporation hits the rotary evaporator’s chilled coils and drips into a collection flask. We take that collection flask and we season it with a little bit of salt and sugar, and then set it with gelatin," Bagale told Vogue. "So, it’s basically pure aroma. You get a condensation water that blows off the stock, and once you season it you have something that’s really really special."

Bagale, Davies, and Alinea's founder, Grant Achatz, posted photos of the translucent pie on Instagram and Twitter. Within a few days, the posts went viral and stirred up interest from countless media organizations, chefs, and fans from around the world. Achatz's Instagram post alone received close to 30,000 likes.

Images via Alinea. Photo credit: Allen Hemberger