Atlantic Beach pie

Atlantic Beach pie

Atlantic Beach pie is a type of lemon curd pie which uses a saltine crust and whipped cream topping sprinkled with salt.

Development

The recipe was developed by Bill Smith, then chef at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, restaurant Crook's Corner, who had as a child in the 1950s and 1960s vacationed in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, where local lore held that only citrus-based desserts could be safely eaten after eating seafood. When asked to develop a dessert for a Southern Foodways Alliance event in 2011, he developed a pie inspired by the lemon meringue pies typically offered in area seafood restaurants. Unlike lemon meringue pies, which typically use a shortcrust pastry base and are topped with meringue, Smith's recipe calls for a saltine cracker crust and a whipped cream topping and is garnished with finishing salt.

Preparation and ingredients

The pie uses a crust containing saltines, butter, and sugar and a curd containing lemons or limes, condensed milk, and egg yolks. The curd is topped with a sweetened whipped cream and then finishing salt and/or lemon zest. The pie is notable for the speed and ease with which it can be made.

Preparation

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  Saltines are crumbled
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  Butter is worked in
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  Saltines and butter are pressed into a pie pan
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  The crust is baked and allowed to cool
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  Egg yolks are added to condensed milk and lemon juice
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  Mixture is whipped into a custard
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  Custard is poured into crust and baked
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  Baked custard in crust
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  Finished pie, topped with whipped cream

Reception

Southern Living called the pie "the best dish of summer".

See also

• List of lemon dishes
• List of pies