Bill Smith's Atlantic Beach Pie

Submitted by Fran6

"From NPR's program All Things Considered, April 11, 2013. Use either lime or lemon juice or a combination. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 sleeves saltine crackers but that "measurement" was not accepted. Not having any in the house, I Googled it and found that there are 38-40 crackers per sleeve."

 

• Ready In: 34mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 1 pie
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 60 saltine crackers
• 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 1⁄2 cup lime juice
• fresh whipped cream
• coarse sea salt

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Crush crackers finely but not to dust. use food processor or your hands. Add sugar, then knead in butter until crumbs hold together like dough. Press into 8" pie pan. Chill 15 minutes, then bake 18 minute or until crust colors a little.
3. While crust is cooling (it doesn't need to be cold), beat egg yolks into milk, then beat in citrus juice until completely combined. Pour into shell and bake 16 minutes until filling has set. Chill completely before slicing. Serve with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of sea salt.

Reviews

[rkjaege]

We've made the pie a few times. We thought the crust was thicker than it needed to be so we cut the saltines to one sleeve with one stick of soft butter and used a 9 inch glass pie pan (some butter was used to butter the pie pan). Additionally, we used lemon juice from fresh lemons. Unique and excellent pie recipe for a fun get together.

 

[principessa908]

Made this for a "Pi day" contest at my boyfriend's office. Out of 15 pies, it won! This was one of the easiest desserts i've ever made, ever. The recipe definitely didn't make too much, I used an 8 or 9" pie plate. I used mostly fresh lemon juice, as I only had 2 lemons in my fridge, and used a lime juice squeeze bottle for the rest. My boyfriend was in charge of crumbling the crackers and didn't make them fine enough, so the crust didn't really hold together well, so make sure they are crumbs, but not dust (too small), and not shards (too big). I didn't even get to try any of the pie :-( but everyone loved it! I hope he saved me a piece!

 

[Haris K.]

The pie itself has the consistency of pumpkin pie or cheesecake. After reading reviews, I made the amount of crumbs they asked for in the recipe but opted for a 9 in pie pan instead. It fit perfectly. Taste wise, I found it to be pretty tart but still sweet, which I like. Come to think of it, it tastes like a lemon cheesecake too.<br/><br/>I was skeptical at first about the crust, but saltines work REALLY well, both taste and texture wise. This pie is amazing.<br/><br/>A quick baking tip though: the filling doesn't take that long to make, so if you make it while the crust is cooling in the fridge make sure you wait to add and mix the lemon juice until just before you pour the filling. That way, the milk does not curdle while you wait.

 

[Jptorrey]

Made this pie and loved the crust BUT it made way too much for one pie, and, was too crumbly. I think next time I'll use one sleeve with the same amount of butter. A unambiguous measure would perhaps work better than sleeves.

 

[Brooklyn Lisa]

I made this exactly as specified and got rave reviews. It was easy to make, looked impressive on a dessert plate and was delicious. Sweet, tart, salty, with a great texture. I'll definitely make it again.