Tag: life is good eat pie

Crazy Stupid Lemon Love (Atlantic Beach Pie)

Crazy Stupid Lemon Love (Atlantic Beach Pie)

STOP Whatever You Are Doing Right Now

Go to your pantry, take out the box of Ritz Crackers, sugar, and that can of sweetened condensed milk from last year’s holiday dessert extravaganza.  Reach into your fruit bowl, grab a couple of lemons and from the fridge pull out eggs, butter and whipping cream.  That’s it, everything you need to make this absolutely scrumptious pie.  Six items to launch yourself into pie bliss.

NPR-Nice Pie Review

During my drive to work one day, a segment on NPR caught my attention when I heard the word PIE followed by “Oh My God, Oh My God, Oh My God”.  It was cookbook author Katie Workman describing her first bite of Bill Smith’s Atlantic Beach Pie.  I adore pie and here was a story about a lemon pie that originated in North Carolina and is a favorite of the folks in the South.  Is it a lemon meringue pie?  Kind of, except top the citrusy filling with billowy mounds of whipped cream.  No meringue here. The crust is made with saltines instead of graham crackers and is delightfully crispy, sweet and salty .

I couldn’t wait to get home and make this pie.

DSC04239Though the original recipe calls for saltines, I used Ritz crackers instead.  I love Ritz crackers and I always have a box around.  The crushed Ritz crackers (do not pulverize your crackers but should be fine crumbs) are mixed with sugar and softened butter.   The key is to mix the crumbs with the butter until they hold together similar to dough.  This is best accomplished by first pulsing your crackers in a food processor or smashing them with a rolling pin in a Ziploc. Then use your hands to combine the crumbs and butter.   Press crumbs into an 8-inch buttered pie plate.  Don’t worry, the mixture will still be loose when you are pressing it in the pie plate, especially on the rim, but it’s ok.  Bake until golden color about 15 minutes.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeasy Filling

Combine egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon or lime juice (or both).  I added two tablespoons heavy cream (not in the original recipe but an optional add). Whisk together, pour the filling into the pre-baked crust and bake for 15 minutes. EASY-PEASY  As the pie cools, whip one cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form and hold their shape.  I did sweeten my whip cream slightly (1-2 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla).  Chill the pie until set and then pile on the cream.  Garnish with a sprinkling of coarse salt and strands of lemon zest.  DIG IN!  Yum, yum, yum.

Yep, CRAZY good, STUPID easy.

Here is the link to the NPR segment on Atlantic Beach Pie in Found Recipes.

Atlantic Beach Pie, Crazy Stupid Lemon Love

This pie is so good it's iconic now, Atlantic Beach Pie, crumb crust, lemon filling topped with whipped cream, delicious.
Course Dessert, Pie
Cuisine American
Keyword Atlantic Beach PIe, lemon, pie
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

For crust:

  • 1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers or Ritz crackers about 6 ounces
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons sugar

For the filling

  • 1 can 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup lemon or lime juice or a mix of the two
  • 2-4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest optional I added zest to increase the lemon flavor

Da Finish

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1-2 tsp granulated sugar
  • Coarse sea salt for garnish
  • lemon or lime zest for garnish

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. I use my food processor or dump the crackers into a ziploc and crush with a rolling pin.
  • Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough.
  • Press into a buttered 8 inch pie pan.
  • Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust colors a little.
  • While the crust is cooling (it doesn't need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the condensed milk, then stir in the citrus juice. Make sure filling is well combined.
  • Pour into the shell and bake for 14-16 minutes until the filling has set.
  • Chill until set.
  • Pile whipped cream on top of pie. Sprinkle with salt or garnish with zest