Total Time
1 hour (plus cooling and chilling)
A beach pie—like the kind popularized by Bill Smith at Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina—should be very simple. To me the name indicates a dessert to make on vacation, in a rented house with limited kitchen tools at your disposal. This version, inspired by the cherry lemonade at Hot Dog on a Stick (the perfect summer mall drink, IMO), is made almost entirely with shelf-stable ingredients that you can throw in the back of your car for the drive to the shore; the only items that require refrigeration from the jump are eggs and butter.
Don’t hesitate to make this recipe your own: You can use whatever crackers or cookies you want for the crust. I like saltines for their stiff structure that makes cutting clean slices a breeze, but the buttery crunch of Ritz with a tart, creamy lemon filling is great too. Just be sure to not skip the added salt; even an already salty cracker needs the bump once you add all that sugar and butter. And if cherries aren’t your thing, use a different jam and fruit. Strawberry jam with sliced strawberries around the edges, blackberry jam with plump blackberries dotting the surface—it’s all good.
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What you’ll need
9" Metal Pie Pan
$19 $15 At Amazon
Mesh Sieve
$13 At Amazon
French Wire Whisk
$18 At Amazon
Small Saucepan
$155 At Amazon
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Food Processor
$63 At Amazon
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Ingredients
10–12 servings
43
¼
1½
1
6
4
1
1
⅔
⅓
1
Preparation
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350°. Pulse 43 Ritz crackers (about 1⅓ sleeves) or 45 saltine crackers (about 1¼ sleeves) in a food processor until crumbs are very small; no pieces should be bigger than a lentil. (Alternatively, place in a resealable plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.) Transfer crumbs to a medium bowl; add ¼ cup (50 g) sugar and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and stir to combine. Drizzle in 1 large egg white and 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled, and toss to coat thoroughly. Transfer to a 9"-diameter pie pan. Using a flat-bottomed measuring cup, firmly and evenly press into bottom and up sides of pan. Bake crust until golden brown, 18–20 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Step 2
Meanwhile, vigorously whisk 4 large egg yolks and one 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk until well combined. Add 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest, ⅔ cup fresh lemon juice, and remaining ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt.
Step 3
Pour filling into crust and bake until edges are set but center still jiggles slightly when pie is gently shaken, 15–20 minutes. Let cool.
Step 4
Heat ⅓ cup cherry jam and 1 Tbsp. maraschino cherry syrup in a small saucepan over medium, stirring occasionally, until runny, about 2 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a measuring glass or small heatproof bowl; discard solids. Let jam mixture cool slightly.
Step 5
Drizzle jam mixture over center of pie, then carefully tilt pie in a rolling fashion to evenly coat filling (be careful not to let it run over into the crust). Chill pie until cold, at least 2 hours.
Step 6
Top with maraschino cherries as desired just before serving.
Do Ahead: Pie can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.
Leave a Review
Reviews (4)
Back to TopLooks yummy, but seriously, what 9" pie serves 10-12 people?
Joan L
Cape Cod, MA
2/4/2024
I definitely thought this would be a bit less fuss as a "beach pie" but it was well worth the effort - delicious! I didn't strain the cherry topping, which was ugly but fine.
K Mahoney
Brooklyn, NY
11/16/2023
Frustrated by this recipe in Canada. Our typical can of condensed milk is 300 ml (10 oz) so I need to buy 2 cans (then what to do with the rest?). Our Ritz crackers I think are smaller too. I wish the recipe was expressed in grams instead of # of crackers
1995 Eurovan
Halifax, Canada
8/15/2023
Don't attempt this with a non-dairy milk. I used sweetened condensed coconut milk and it did not go well. Without milk proteins to bind with the acid, the filling did not set correctly.
Nell N.
Austin, TX
8/7/2023