A couple of years ago, while watching an episode of Cook's Country on PBS, I discovered the North Carolina Lemon Pie. It immediately got my attention because the crust was made entirely out of Saltine crackers. I originally thought that the crust would take the pie into more of a salty realm. But balanced out with a touch of light corn syrup, melted butter and the sweet and tart lemon filling, the crust takes on a richness and sweetness unlike any other.
I followed the Cook's Country recipe the first time I made it, and it turned out really nice. But the chef in me felt the need to tweak the recipe a bit in order to make it my own. So, for the second time, I tweaked the crust by adding ginger cookies (Anna's Ginger Swedish Thins) along with a lesser amount of the saltine crackers. The taste was pretty remarkable! Not only do you get the saltiness from the Saltine crackers, but with there's a bit of sweet as well as a nice pop of ginger. I ended up making the pie as the dessert for a dinner party we were hosting for two of our really close friends, and they were huge fans of the pie and the crust!
It quickly turned out to be my new favorite pie recipe, and I planned on making at least two more pies for family. I ordered a couple more pie plates that I could not only make the pies in, but also give to them to keep. I found a glass pie plate online that came with a lid to use as a cover, which would be helpful in transporting the pies. Then Covid hit, and I had to put off making the pies. So, the pie plates sat in my basement storage for close to two years before I finally pulled them out to use. In the meantime, whenever I made a pie, I would use my trusty Pyrex pie plate that I’ve had for at least 20 years now. It has never steered me wrong in all the years that I’ve used it!
A little over a month ago, my best friend’s son asked me to bake him a pie. I decided to bake him a Dutch apple pie in one of the pie plates that had been sitting in my basement. Turned out, there’s a reason that my old, Pyrex pie plate is my favorite. This new one may have a lid, but it also has sloped and slippery slides, and seemed to be a bit deeper than my usual pie pan, making it a bit more difficult to form a decent pie crust.
I also have to admit that pie crust has never been my strong suit. It’s one of those baking techniques that has eluded me over and over again. My crimping is always off, my rolling skills aren’t the best, and, to this day, I’m still challenged with forming a decent looking pie crust in the pan. Although I’ve gotten much better at it, I’m still definitely a work in progress.
I bring this up because as a few of these photos will show - between the sloped sides of the pie plate and a much too buttery crust, there were some issues. But I appreciate when there are obstacles in the kitchen because it gives me the opportunity to find a solution and fix the problem, though with baking, those challenges can be a bit more daunting.
Back to the pie. I really wanted to begin the summer season with a bright dessert, which is why I chose to highlight the North Carolina Lemon Pie. It’s a chilled pie with a filling bursting with tons of bright lemon flavor, then topped with a slightly sweetened whipped cream topping. It just screams summer! Plus, it contains several ingredients that are likely already in your fridge and pantry.
As I mentioned earlier, I tweaked Cooks Country’s recipe by adding ginger cookies into the crust mix. I also had some Irish butter and decided to use it in the crust. One of the best things about Irish butter or European butter is its higher butterfat. The Irish butter that I used has a butterfat content of 82%, whereas most American butters contain a butterfat content of 80%. Although the difference might sound small, the extra 2% does give a noticeable difference to baked goods. The cows are grass-fed, which gives the milk they produce a richness, in turn making the Irish butter and its higher butterfat content perfect for baking - resulting in flaker pie crusts or scones, and tastier cookies.
When I melted the butter to add to the rest of the crust ingredients, I immediately noticed how incredibly yellow, rich and fatty looking the butter was, but thought nothing of it. I processed the crust ingredients as I had done before and noticed that the way they came together was completely different than what it looked like before. Instead of oatmeal-sized pieces, which is what the recipe called for, it had become more of a clump. I first thought that I had processed the ingredients too much. But once I turned the ingredients out onto the pie plate and began pressing it into a pie crust shape, I saw a pool of melted butter forming on top. This made it much more difficult to press into a pie crust shape, and the mix also had the hardest time going up the sides of the pie plate.
I added more crackers and cookies to the food processor, gave them a couple of pulses until I had coarse crumbs. Then I added it back into the food processor the original crust ingredients and gave the processor a couple of pulses until the mixture almost resembled oatmeal-size pieces.
I’m including the ingredients for my tweaked version of the crust, as well as the Cook's Country version so you can decide!
Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe
Makes: one 9-inch pie
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Inactive time: 6 hours
For the crust:
6 ounces saltine crackers (about 53 crackers) or 3 ounces of saltine crackers (about 26 crackers) plus 3 ounces of thin ginger cookies (about 19 cookies)
1/8 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted melted butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, (roughly the zest of one lemon)
1/2 cup of lemon juice (roughly 3 lemons)
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 tablespoon of powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
For the crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and adjust oven rack to the middle position. Combine saltines, and cookies (if using), or just the saltines along with the salt in food processor and pulse about 15 times; you should end up with coarse crumbs. Add in the melted butter and corn syrup and pulse about 15 times, until crumbs are broken down into oatmeal-size pieces.
2. Transfer saltine and cookie mixture (if using), or just the saltine mix, into a greased 9-inch pie plate. Using the bottom of a dry one cup measuring cup, press crumbs into an even layer, starting on the bottom, eventually working your way up the sides of the plate, using your hand to keep crumbs from spilling over pie plate edge. Once you’ve gotten your pie crust shape formed, place the pie plate on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven until light golden brown and fragrant, which should take between 17 to 19 minutes.
For the filling:
1. Combine in a large bowl, condensed milk, egg yolks, heavy cream, lemon zest and salt, whisk until fully combined. Next whisk in lemon juice until fully incorporated.
For the topping:
1. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, (I like starting with a very chilled bowl, and usually put my bowl and whisk in the freezer for at least 15 minutes prior to whipping), add chilled cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla, on medium-low speed whip until cream starts to become foamy, about 1 minute.
2. Increase speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Spread whipped cream over top of pie, use an offset spatula if you have one, slice and then serve.
To learn more pie crust and filling techniques, don't miss our Pie and Tart Boot Camp on Sunday, June 26 at 10am at Lincoln Square. You'll make: