Atlantic Beach pie is a type of lemon curd pie which uses a saltine crust and whipped cream topping sprinkled with salt. [1]
The recipe was developed by Bill Smith, then chef at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, restaurant Crook's Corner, who had as a child in the 1950s and 1960s vacationed in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, where local lore held that only citrus-based desserts could be safely eaten after eating seafood. [1] [2] When asked to develop a dessert for a Southern Foodways Alliance event in 2011, he developed a pie inspired by the lemon meringue pies typically offered in area seafood restaurants. [1] [3] Unlike lemon meringue pies, which typically use a shortcrust pastry base and are topped with meringue, Smith's recipe calls for a saltine cracker crust and a whipped cream topping and is garnished with finishing salt. [1]
Food writer, Katie Workman, helped bring Bill Smith’s iconic Atlantic Beach Pie into the national spotlight when she featured it on NPR’s Found Recipes series [4] . Her enthusiastic retelling of the pie’s coastal North Carolina roots — and it’s irresistible sweet-salty, lemony charm — introduced a new wave of home cooks to this beloved Southern dessert.
Before being added to the Crook's Corner menu, the pie needed a name. According to Bill Smith himself, he "sort of offhandedly" named the dessert after the nearby beach town of Atlantic Beach. [2]
The pie uses a crust containing saltines, butter, and sugar and a curd containing lemons or limes, condensed milk, and egg yolks. [1] [5] The curd is topped with a sweetened whipped cream and then finishing salt and/or lemon zest. [1] The pie is notable for the speed and ease with which it can be made. [6]
Southern Living called the pie "the best dish of summer". [3]
