A Pie with Zing for Father's Day

Sweetie asked for a creamy pie for Father's Day, which is kind of funny considering all the fruit we have in the house...cherries, both red and Rainier versions,  plums from our tree, strawberries from the farm stand, raspberries, mandarins, apples and bananas.

Still, a creamy pie is less common than a fruit pie, so I went back to my recipes for banana cream and coconut cream and even chocolate silk. None of them seemed right, so I switched to doing a search on the Internet. After a bit of surfing, I found Atlantic Beach Pie on the Delish website and it sounded promising. It has a cracker crumb shell and a filling that included both lemon and lime flavors. A can of sweetened condensed milk thickened the filling and then it was baked for a short while and chilled. For garnish, whipped cream was decorated with wisps of lemon and lime zest.

As I often do, I made some changes. I prefer a graham cracker crust and I like that flavored with cinnamon. Making those two changes probably makes this nothing like an Atlantic Beach pie, but it ended up being a great change, especially when I used some melted butter, along with the softened butter, to pull the graham cracker crumbs together.

I also like a strong citrus flavor in a filling, so I stirred some extra lemon and lime zest into the filling. It really made the citrus zing and sing. I still used zest on the mounds of whipped cream for both decor and flavor.

This is the sort of recipe that has some parts that can be done on the day or you can do some and then finish on another day. The crust and filling can be done on one day, covered well, then kept in the fridge for a day or two before serving. The whipped cream and zest decor are done right before serving.

This is a delicious pie. Sweetie said it might be his favorite of all my pies. Of course that may be because he was thinking about a second piece!

I'm giving you the recipe as it is on Delish, except for the zest in the filling. If you prefer a graham cracker crust, use your favorite one or look one up on the 'net. I tried to modify this one and it took a lot of trial and error, so I wouldn't recommend doing that.

ATLANTIC BEACH PIE from Delish website

 Ingredients:

Cracker Crust

2 1/2 sleeves butter crackers (about 75 crackers/250 grams)
1/2 cup soft butter 
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Lemon-Lime Custard Filling

4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 2 large lemons) {Note: zest the lemons first}
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (from about 3-4 large limes) {Note: zest the limes first}
1/2 teaspoon, each, lemon and lime zest

Whipped Cream Topping And Assembly

1 cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoons light brown sugar  
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. lemon zest
Flakey sea salt

Directions

Cracker Crust

Step 1 In a food processor, pulse crackers until finely ground with a few pea-size pieces remaining, 25 to 30 pulses. Add butter and brown sugar and continue to pulse until butter is incorporated and a crumbly dough starts to form, about 15 pulses.

Step 2 Transfer cracker mixture to a 9" glass pie pan. Press into an even layer in bottom and up sides of pan. Freeze 10 minutes.

Step 3 Preheat oven to 350°. Bake crust until deep golden brown and smells nutty and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Lemon-Lime Custard Filling

Step 1 In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, eggs, and milk until combined. Add lemon juice and lime juice and whisk until smooth.

Step 2 Pour custard into pie shell. Continue to bake until center of pie is set but still slightly jiggly, about 18 minutes. 

Step 3 Transfer pie plate to a wire rack and let cool 1 hour. Place in refrigerator and chill until cold, about 2 hours. 

Whipped Cream Topping And Assembly

Step 1 Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed or a whisk, in a medium bowl, beat cream and brown sugar until stiff peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes. Using a piping bag or spatula, top cooled pie with whipped cream.

Step 2 Sprinkle with lemon zest and lime zest and a pinch of sea salt.

Step 3 Make Ahead: Pie can be made 4 days ahead. Cover pie plate with plastic and chill.