Iconic Southern restaurant Crook’s Corner still serves former executive chef Bill Smith’s legendary Atlantic Beach Pie. The perfect hybrid of a key lime pie and lemon meringue pie, it’s light and bright, but also incredibly rich and delicious. The pie is prepared with a lemon-lime filling made with condensed milk, and it’s served in a saltine cracker crust for a sweet and salty indulgence. It’s served cold, but not before being finished with fresh whipped cream.
CRUST INGREDIENTS:
• 3 sleeves saltine crackers
• 6 tbsp sugar
• ½ lb. unsalted butter, softened
FILLING INGREDIENTS:
• 8 egg yolks
• 2 cans sweetened condensed milk
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup fresh lime juice
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush the crackers into a coarse meal. I use my hands if I am only making one recipe and a food processor if I am making a lot. Mix in the sugar, then knead in the butter. Butter varies, so sometimes you may need a little more. It should hold together sort of like a crumbly dough. Press into two pie pans and chill. When set, bake for 17 minutes. The crust should color a tiny bit.
2. While the crusts are baking, beat the filling ingredients together very well. When the crusts are done, pour in the filling. You don’t need to wait for them to cool. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the pies are set at the center.
3. The pies need to chill before they can be cut. Serve with lightly sweetened, fresh whipped cream sprinkled with coarse sea salt.
Pie photo courtesy of Lissa Gotwals. Headshot by Soleil Konkel.
