Pie. It is #2 on my list of TOP 5 Sweet Treats. Don’t be quick to scoff at the #2 rating. All my sweets treat loves are dreamy, no matter the rating. Pies are so versatile – they can be fruity, creamy, savory, AND they are compatible with every season. So it is clear – I love pie.
This week’s post, a delicious pie, was a discovery online this past summer. The Atlantic Beach Pie is a quick and easy mash-up of lemon meringue and key lime pies that boasts a saltine crust, a 3-ingredient filling and a whipped cream topping that is sprinkled with sea salt (swoon). This pie favorite comes from the Crook’s Corner restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina restaurant and it’s popularity has been expanding to restaurants and kitchens up and down the East coast via the internet.
Kyle was intrigued by the unique flavor and texture of the saltine crust and the streamlined approach to the key-lime-esque filling. Another intriguing factor to this pie was the generous use of salt to create a tart-salty-barely-sweet treat. This discovery in the Summer of 2018, however, was promptly forgotten with the fast approaching pumpkin season – until now!
This Christmas, Kyle received the Food52 Genius Desserts Cookbook as a holiday gift. Low and behold, inside the pages of this fabulous book sat the Atlantic Beach Pie recipe. It stared up at him with all of it’s no-fuss, salty-tart-sweet dreaminess. The blurb inside the book described the pie as tasting like “summer and the beach, like salt-rimmed margaritas, sea and sun.” Reading this description while being throttled to our cores by the polar vortex sounded like glorious salvation.
Finally, it was time for Kyle to test out the Atlantic Beach Pie. He set out to create a gluten free version of the recipe, which he thought should have been simple, considering the original included only one gluten-containing ingredient. Not so fast….
Unfortunately, gluten-free saltines do not exist. Kyle briefly considered developing his own gluten free saltines, BUT, that would negate the pure simplicity of this pie, so he went to Plan B. He decided to make the crust with another type of savory, non-saltine gluten free cracker. He chose the unflavored GF rice crackers, though he was skeptical that they would hold up as a pie crust.
Sadly, Kyle was about to throw in the towel on his Gluten Free Atlantic Beach Pie. Then, there was an A-ha! moment – he spied the GF chocolate sandwich cookies a bit down the aisle from the GF crackers. He had success using those cookies in our No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie Crust, so, he figured they may help solve any structural issues he might encounter if he just used the rice crackers for the crust.
Chocolate and lime might not be an instinctive pairing – but this pairing did bring some of Kyle’s Florida reminiscing to light. The flavor took him back to a farmer’s market that serves soft-serve ice cream. All the summery flavors were available – pineapple, orange-vanilla, etc., but the unique chocolate-lime swirl was just immediately refreshing on a balmy Florida afternoon.
The addition of chocolate also takes this recipe up to Valentine’s Day status – one can now add this dessert to any Valentine’s Day dinner plans!
Kyle used a combination of the rice crackers and chocolate sandwich cookies, then added some kosher salt to the crust in an attempt to emulate the saltiness of the original saltine version of the pie. For the filling, he increased the lime juice, just a tad – he wanted to really bring out the tartness in the pie. In addition he added a bit more of kosher salt to amplify the salty/sweet nature of the dessert. The combination of the rice crackers and the chocolate sandwich cookies reminded us of those Keebler Sugar Wafers. Does anyone remember those? I don’t know if they are still around, but I remember eating them directly out of the box like chips.
The pie came out a delicious success – the crust wasn’t overly chocolate-y and all the flavors coexist in beautiful symmetry.
The bittersweet cocoa-layer to the salty-sweet-tartness created a harmony of flavors that emulated the original Atlantic Beach Pie. So, as you enjoy your pie, either on Valentine’s Day or any other day of the year, sit back, close your eyes and dream of warmer climates with this salty-sweet treat!
Adapted from Food 52 Genius Desserts.
- For the crust
- 5 ounces gluten-free chocolate sandwich cookies (about 10 cookies)
- 2 ounces gluten-free, unflavored rice crackers
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup softened unsalted butter
- For the filling
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 4 egg yolks
- ¾ cup fresh lime juice (from about 5 limes)
- Freshly whipped cream (1 cup whipping cream plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar), for garnish
- Coarse sea salt, for garnish
- Grated lime zest, for garnish
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Crush the chocolate sandwich cookies and crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the sugar and kosher salt, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 9-inch pie pan. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
- While the crust is cooling (it doesn't need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the condensed milk, then beat in the lime juice. It is important to completely combine these ingredients. Pour into the shell and bake for 16 minutes - until the filling has set.
- Refrigerate the pie, uncovered, until chilled, at least 2 hours. The pie needs to be completely cold to be sliced. Serve with fresh whipped cream, a generous sprinkling of sea salt and lime zest.
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