Buttermilk Pie
My boyfriend’s mother is a one-woman Southern show. Seriously, she does it all – and has three well-rounded sons to prove it. Feeding those growing boys (and a loving husband) couldn’t have been easy, but she makes it look like a piece of cake. I’ve got a lot to learn. Fortunately, she's given me a good start: I’ve inherited her tattered purple recipe folder with all the secrets of her Southern kitchen.
The woman has a lot of delicious traditions, but one of my favorites is her gift of buttermilk pie. Every Christmas, she bakes off hundreds (thousands!) of her famous pies to give to her friends and loved ones. Even the mailman and trash guys eagerly await their annual treat. I can only hope that one day I’ll have a signature dessert as anticipated as hers.
So what exactly is buttermilk pie? It’s really just a traditional chess pie (eggs, sugar, butter) spiked with a tangy hit of buttermilk to add a little somethin’ special. Southerners are famous for their ability to make sinfully rich baked goods with only ingredients from the pantry, and this classic pie is no exception. Now that I’ve mastered the recipe, I won’t have to wait until December to get my fill. Sometimes a gift of food just tastes better when you make it yourself.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and eggs until well combined. Add buttermilk and vanilla and continue mixing. Gradually add flour mixture until all of the ingredients are incorporated.
- Pour the filling into the piecrust and bake for one hour. The pie should be completely set and the top a light golden brown. Allow to cool completely before serving. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.
Nealey moved from Alabama to the West Coast to follow her dreams, only to realize once there how much she missed good ol’ country cooking. So she took to the kitchen and began re-creating the dishes of her past, but this time without any help from a can. What started out as a hobby turned into an obsession, so she quit her day job to pursue cooking – and eating – fulltime. Dixie Caviar is where you can follow her pursuits of all things Southern.
