Atlantic Beach Pie

5 from 44 votes

Atlantic Beach Pie is one of the most deservedly famous pies of all time: a crunchy saltine crust filled with creamy sweet-tart lemon custard filling, topped with billows of whipped cream.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: Servings

Author: Katie Workman

Equipment

Food Processor

Ingredients

For the Crust

1 ½ sleeves of saltine crackers
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (softened)
3 tablespoons sugar

For the Filling

1 (14-ounce can) sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
½ cup fresh lemon juice or lime juice (or a mix of the two)

For the Sweetened Whipped Cream

1 ½ cups heavy or whipping cream
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
For the crust, crush the crackers finely, but not to dust, and place them in a medium bowl. You can use a food processor, but it’s just as easy to use your hands. Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press the mixture into an 8- or 9-inch pie pan, as you would for a graham cracker crust. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, then bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until the crust colors a little.
Remove the crust, and while it is cooling slightly, make the filling. In another medium bowl, beat the egg yolks into the milk then beat in the citrus juice. It is important to completely combine these ingredients. Immediately pour into the pie shell and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until the filling has set. Let the pie cool on a pie rack, then refrigerate to chill.
In a large mixing bowl using a whisk or a hand mixer, whip the cream and confectioners’ sugar just until slightly firm peaks are formed. Pile the whipped cream over the entire filling. The pie needs to be completely cold to be sliced. This will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

Notes

Use fresh lime juice instead of lemon.
You can use a food processor to crush the saltines, but it’s just as easy to use your hands.
Chilling the crust briefly before baking the pie enables it to hold its structure better.
Make sure to combine the filling ingredients very well and pour them into the crust just after blending, then bake immediately.
Allow the pie to cool on a rack to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours to chill completely before topping with the whipped cream.
Keep the pie chilled until serving.
Serve Atlantic Beach Pie, cut into wedges, making sure to slide the serving spatula completely underneath the thick crust. If you want to make the pie ahead of time, you can fill and bake the pie up to 2 days ahead of time, and then cover the pie and refrigerate. You can also make the whipped cream up to 8 hours before serving, and keep it chilled.
Or, top the pie with whipped cream up to several hours before serving, and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.
Leftovers will last for another few days. The crust may soften slightly, but it will still be delicious.

Nutrition