A cross between lemon meringue and key lime pies, this salty beauty combines a saltine cracker crust with a lemon-lime custard filling and topped with heaps of whipped cream. And a sprinkle of flaky sea salt because the Atlantic is salty and it just makes sense.
Tradition has it that this pie originated from North Carolina’s Atlantic coast as the only dessert some restaurants served. I found this recipe on Food52’s website from chef Bill Smith from Crook’s Corner in NC. A couple tries and a few tweaks produced a great pie that was a break from a traditional pie-crust fruit-filled pie.
In fact, Atlantic beach pie is the one to make if you have a fear of making pie dough! This is one area I still struggle with…my last pie attempt resulted in a tear in the dough that spilled all of my filling under the already-underfilled pie crust and fused the dough to the pie plate. We ate what we could out of the plate while I hysterically laughed at just how bad the pie had turned out. It was still delicious and I’m not giving up!
The saltine crust here is as easy to pull together as a basic graham cracker crust with not a finicky step to be found. The filling is usually the star, but the crust is what makes this pie special. It’s very crumbly so process the crackers until you have relatively fine crumbs while leaving some chunky bits, and scoop the crumbs left in the pan on top of your slice because we believe in no man left behind. Especially when the “man” is salty, butter cracker crumbs.
And make sure you understand what size pie plate the recipe calls for so your filling actually fills your crust! A standard pie plate is usually between 1 and 2″ deep (like this! or this!), while a deep-dish pie plate is usually between 2.5 to 3″ (this is mine!)*. You can use either one for any recipe, but you will have to adjust accordingly.
This tart, salty-sweet pie is perfect for a lazy day when you want to transport yourself to the beach. So I think that means it’s perfect for any day, right?!
[tasty-recipe id=”31037″]
*We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Leave a Reply