I was, of course, talking on the phone, the little rectangle
with the rounded corners (we now all know what that means) scrunched between my
shoulder and ear. Honestly, I cook and talk on the phone all the time. But now
that I think about it, I have had another baking omission while on the phone;
years ago I left the sugar out of a cheesecake, which I was making to take to a
party. I didn’t realize it until I served and tasted it--and came home to find the sugar measured
out on the counter. This time I didn’t realize it until I looked into the oven
and saw the top of my pie blown up like a balloon and really dark, almost burned—it is always dark, but
this was something else—and saw the melted butter sitting forlorn in its little
pot on stove.
Both times, happily enough, the final product was
interesting. I am almost tempted to leave the butter out of this pie again—the
filling separated, much like an old Pennsylvania German favorite of me, my
mother, and grandmother, lemon cake pie (I’ll make it for the blog sometime),
and it tasted really good. Hence the
photos of two pies, and two slices of pie. The one with the blackberries
is the butterless attempt; the one with raspberries
is the “correct” one.
Below is how I started off my post on buttermilk, blueberries, and birthday a month ago, when I was still
in LC. What a difference a month makes. Or a stick of melted butter.
********
I do love alliteration. And of course, pie. And berries of
all sorts. And dairy. So it all came together last week on my birthday. As a
child I always asked for pie on my birthday—apple, to be precise—and now that I
make my own birthday desserts, nothing much has changed except for the kind of
pie itself. I’m more likely these days, when my favorite local apples are not
yet in but we are still enjoying berry season, to make a blueberry or mixed
berry pie. This year, not really thinking about making a pie, I picked up a cup
of blackberries and on the morning of my birthday I thought, what would this
make a nice garnish for? A traditional custard pie, of course. Or a lemon curd tart. But I
had buttermilk
on hand (as always) and wanted to use it up before I leave LC (sadly, time to
think about that). So an old-fashioned buttermilk pie, a tangy riff on a chess
pie, seemed a good and practical match for the blackberries.
Buttermilk is, of course, not what it used to be; it’s not
really the milk from churning butter. It’s more of a constructed product. But
it is good in its own way, a kind of light, liquid sour cream. It is great stuff for dips and salad
dressings, for marinating chicken, for making tender cakes. I don’t drink it.
But then again, I don’t drink milk either, and never did. Ever.
But milk transformed is one of my favorite things, and this
is a favorite pie.
Buttermilk Pie
The baking time on this pie will depend greatly on your
oven. Watch it, and use your judgment.
It should not be jiggly, but only just firm. Test as you would a
custard, by inserting a knife half-way between the center and the edge. Serves 6.
Pastry for a 10” pie plate or 9” deep dish pie plate. You
can make an all-butter pastry or make one with 1 ½ c flour, a big pinch of
salt, 6 T butter, and 2 T lard or shortening, and cold water to bring it
together.
1 c sugar
3 T flour
¼ salt
3 eggs, separated
2 c buttermilk
2 tea pure vanilla
8 oz (1 stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled
Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Line the pie dish with the pastry and chill in the freezer. Mix
the sugar, flour, and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks
and whisk in the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, and melted butter,
whisking til smooth. Beat whites stiff but not dry and fold into the custard
mixture, blending well. Pile the filling into the chilled shell. Bake the pie at
425F for about 15 minutes, covering the top with a sheet of foil if it
gets too brown; reduce to 325F for another 25-30 minutes, until the pie is
golden and a knife inserted midway comes out clean.
Let the pie cool on a rack. I prefer this pie at warm room
temperature. Do refrigerate leftovers, but take it out of the refrigerator 20
minutes or so before eating them to take the chill off and get the texture back
to the way it should be. Serve plain or with fruit.
