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.^[1]

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.^[1] 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.^[1]^[2] 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.^[1]

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.^[1]^[3] The curd is topped with a sweetened whipped cream and then finishing salt and/or lemon zest.^[1] The pie is notable for the speed and ease with which it can be made.^[4]

Preparation

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

Reception

Southern Living called the pie "the best dish of summer".^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Laskey, Margaux (2018-07-20). "A Pie to Cut Through Summer's Heat". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
^ ^a ^b Laperruque, Emma (2018-02-27). "Legendary North Carolina Pies: Atlantic Beach Pie". Our State. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
^ Theoktisto, Anna (10 June 2024). "Atlantic Beach Pie". Southern Living. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
^ "A North Carolina Pie That Elicits An 'Oh My God' Response". NPR. 11 April 2013.

Lemon dishes

v t e American pies
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Frozen pies	Marie Callender's Mrs. Smith's Sara Lee Centerville Pie Company