Tag Archives: pie

Culinary Adventures: Atlantic Beach Pie

Culinary adventures: Making Atlantic Beach Pie. This southern-style citrus pie is super easy and tastes like a big creamy lemon bar. Great to bring to a BBQ!

I was looking at recipes for lemon pies on Pinterest and happened across a pin from NPR with a recipe for Bill Smith’s North Carolina -style Atlantic Beach Pie, and decided I had to try it.

Recipe from http://www.npr.org/2013/04/11/176279512/a-north-carolina-pie-that-elicits-an-oh-my-god-response

Recipe: Bill Smith’s Atlantic Beach Pie

Makes one pie
For the crust:
1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers
1/3 to 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
For the filling:
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup lemon or lime juice or a mix of the two
Fresh whipped cream and coarse sea salt for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 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. Press into an 8 inch pie pan. Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust colors a little.

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

I crushed the saltines in the packages, and while I liked the chunkiness of the texture, it didn’t hold together that well. I think that next time I will crush a bit finer in either a food processor or a gallon zip lock bag. It did taste great though.

Atlantic-Beach-Pie (2)
Crushed saltines, butter, and sugar
Atlantic-Beach-Pie (4)
Baking the crust

For the juice I used my electric citrus juicer to squeeze lemons. I didn’t use any lime juice, just lemon. I would strongly recommend using fresh lemon juice over bottled, the bottled has an acidic taste that I’m not fond of. I only ended up needing one large lemon for the 1/2 cup of lemon juice.

Atlantic Beach Pie
Juicing the lemons
Atlantic Beach Pie
Egg yolk, lemon juice, and sweetened condensed milk mixture

The filling mix for the Atlantic Beach Pie was rather runny when pouring it into a pre-baked pie shell. The result after baking was a smooth, firm, custard however.

Atlantic Beach Pie
Filling the pie ready to bake

The Atlantic Beach Pie turned out delicious, and it was ridiculously easy. I sprinkled the top with a little sea salt like the recipe called for, and served with whipped cream. It tasted kind of like a big, extra-creamy lemon bar. I’m keeping this recipe in my mental lexicon of easy summer BBQ potluck dishes.

Atlantic Beach Pie
Finished pie
Atlantic Beach Pie
Atlantic Beach Pie
Atlantic Beach Pie
Atlantic Beach Pie

 

 

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Culinary Adventures: Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with Orange Cream

Culinary Adventures: Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with Orange Cream –giving the traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie a fancy makeover

I had a discount subscription to Woman’s Day Magazine last year, which I’m not a big fan of (I was only in it for the recipes, which aren’t that exciting). I did really enjoy their pie recipes in last year’s Thanksgiving issue though–particularly the Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with Orange Cream.

I’d never made a chiffon pie before, and it conjured up images of 1950’s housewives in pastel dresses and aprons, tediously whipping up something that fluffy could easily be ruined or deflated with any slight error. Fortunately, the Pumpkin Chiffon Pie wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought, and the flavor on this pie is amazing. Half the deliciousness comes from the gingersnap cookie crust.

You will definitely need electric beaters and a food processor, and there are quite a few steps/parts to this recipe, but overall it was pretty easy.

Recipe found at http://www.womansday.com/recipefinder/pumpkin-chiffon-pie-orange-cream-recipe-wdy1113

Ingredients:

  • 5 ounce(s) (about 40) vanilla wafer cookies, such as Nilla Wafers
  • 5 ounce(s) (about 19) gingersnap cookies
  • 6 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 envelope(s) (2 1/4 teaspoons) powdered gelatin
  • 3/4 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon(s) ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon(s) ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon(s) ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon(s) kosher salt
  • 2/3 cup(s) granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1.50 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
  • 2.50 cup(s) heavy cream
  • 1 can(s) (15-ounce) pumpkin purée
  • 1 navel orange

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In a food processor, pulse the cookies to form fine crumbs (you should have about 2 cups). Add the melted butter and pulse to combine.
  2. Press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of a 10-inch pie dish. Bake until the edges of the crust are beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
  3. Meanwhile, pour 1/4 cup water into a medium saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and let stand for 5 minutes. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the gelatin dissolves, about 2 minutes.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, salt, and 1/3 cup sugar. Add the egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/2 cup heavy cream and mix to combine. Add to the gelatin mixture and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the mixture thickens (it should thickly coat the back of a spoon), 15 to 18 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool to room temperature, 45 to 50 minutes.
  5. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until thick and foamy. Gradually add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar (1 tablespoon at a time) until stiff glossy peaks form, about 3 minutes.
  6. Stir 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Gently fold the remaining egg whites into the pumpkin mixture until no white streaks remain. Spread the filling evenly into the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days.
  7. Twenty minutes before serving, make the orange cream. Cut the orange in half and squeeze 1 tablespoon of juice into a large bowl. Add the remaining 2 cups cream and, using an electric mixer, beat until stiff peaks form. Top the pie with the cream, then grate the zest of the remaining orange half over the top.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with orange cream

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with orange cream

The Pumpkin Chiffon Pie was delicious. I’m not the biggest pumpkin pie fan, but this one is now added to my Thanksgiving pie rotation from now on. Why make boring pumpkin pie when you can make Pumpkin Chiffon Pie? It was so fluffy and the contrast with the crunchy gingersnap cookie crust was perfect. The orange cream is very subtle, not too overpowering.

Hopefully you won’t have a whipped cream incident like I did.

 

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie whipped cream accident