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 refers to a dessert that has to be made on vacation, in a rental home with limited kitchen utensils at your disposal. This version, inspired by the cherry lemonade in Hot Dog on a Stick (the perfect summer drink, IMO), is made almost entirely with shelf-stable ingredients you can toss in the back of your car for the drive to the beach; The only items that require refrigeration from the hop are the eggs and butter.
Feel free to make this recipe your own: you can use any crackers or cookies you like for the crust. I love the salt because of its firm texture that makes clean slices easy to cut, but the buttery crunch of the Ritz with the creamy, tart lemon filling is great, too. Just be sure not to skip the added salt; Even really salty biscuits need a bump once you add all that sugar and butter. And if cherries aren’t your thing, use different jams and fruits. Strawberry jam with strawberry slices around the edges, blackberry jam with plump blackberries – it’s all good.
