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.

Atlantic Beach pie

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.

Origin of the name

Before being added to the Crook's Corner menu, the pie needed a name. According to Bill Smith himself, he "sort of offhandedly" named the dessert after the nearby beach town of Atlantic Beach.

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