Lemon “Atlantic Beach” Pie

Source: Food 52 Bill Smith

Ingredients

• 1½ sleeves saltine crackers, about 6 oz or 60 crackers
• ½ cup softened unsalted butter
• 3 tbsps sugar
• 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
• 4 egg yolks
• ½ cup lemon or lime juice, or mix of the two
• 1 cup whipping cream, whipped for garnish
• coarse sea salt, for garnish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough.

3. Press into an 8-inch pie pan. Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

4. While the crust is cooling (it doesn’t need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the milk, then beat in the citrus juice. It is important to completely combine these ingredients. Pour into the shell and bake for 16 minutes until the filling has set.

5. The pie needs to be completely cold to be sliced. Serve with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of sea salt.

Notes

I think either few crackers or more butter would make a crust that sticks together better. I lean toward more butter. When I first put the crust in the pan I didn’t think there would be room for the filling but I pressed it down and all was fine.

Original recipe doesn’t specify amount of cream but I thought 1 cup liquid was plenty. I put the whipped cream on individual pieces because I wasn’t going to serve the entire pie at once. If I did the whole pie I would put cream on top of the filling but not the crumb crust edges.

Why not use melted butter? Can’t see that it would hurt and would be easier.