Cook's exchange: Buttermilk pie is a comfort food classic
Thanksgiving may not be National Pie Day or even Pi Day, but it truly is Pie Day. Cakes and elegant desserts are good, but Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a slice of pie.
Pecan pie is my favorite, but my daughter likes pumpkin or sweet potato. My husband prefers a coconut cream, but he's outvoted. He's the only coconut lover, and that's what you get when you live in a house with three females.
Rosie Marie Grace-Lewis of Biloxi, Miss., requested readers' help in finding her favorite, buttermilk pie. She lost her recipes during Hurricane Katrina. It's been nine years, and we are still replacing things that were swept away.
Readers, as they always do, have come through with some good buttermilk pie recipes for Grace-Lewis.
I also will share a low-sugar pie recipe for those on sugar-restricted diets because Thanksgiving can be miserable if there is not a dessert for them to enjoy. I know this firsthand. The low-sugar pie is my creation, but I found a good gluten-free pie crust from the folks at King Arthur Flour for those who cannot have gluten. Just trying to make Thanksgiving a Pie Day for all.
"Here is our favorite buttermilk pie recipe," Nancy Holderer of Gulfport, Miss., said. "It is quick and I always have the ingredients on hand. I am sure another flavoring could be used for variety."
BUTTERMILK PIE
1-1/3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 unbaked 9-inch pastry shell
Beat eggs in a medium mixing bowl; add next 6 ingredients and mix well. Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Cover pastry edge with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning. Bake 10 minutes longer or until pie is set. Cool on wire rack. Yield: 1 9-inch pie.
-- Submitted by Nancy Holderer from "Country Living Recipes" by Oxmoor House, 1982.
A reader known only as Anne shares her buttermilk pie recipe.
BUTTERMILK PIE
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons flour
3 large eggs
1 unbaked pie shell
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients in a blender or with a mixer until smooth pour into pie shell. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes to an hour. For variety, you can add chopped nuts or a handful of coconut. Allow to cool a while, before cutting.
-- Submitted by Anne
"I am submitting a recipe for buttermilk pie requested by a fellow reader," Kim Ashton said. "This is the recipe my mother used and was my dad's favorite pie. I can't bake it without thinking of them. Great pie, but rich!"
BUTTERMILK PIE
9-inch deep dish unbaked pie shell
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 rounded tablespoons flour
3 beaten eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of nutmeg, optional
Add sugar to butter and cream well. Add eggs and flour and beat well. Stir in buttermilk, vanilla and nutmeg. Pour into pie shell and bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees.
-- Submitted by Kim Ashton
NO SUGAR-ADDED SWEET POTATO PIE
1 reduced-fat 9-inch (deep dish) pie crust
3 large sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed (3 cups)
1 cup skim evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 cup sucralose-based artificial sweetener (such as Splenda)
1/2 stick butter (yes, I splurge on butter; it tastes better and it's not plastic)
1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1- 1/2 to 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
3/4 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mash warm potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Add margarine. Stir in sweetener, seasonings, extract and salt. Add eggs. Beat with mixer until combined, gradually adding milk. Remove any strings from sweet potatoes and discard.
Carefully pour filling into pie crust. Cover pie crust edges with foil to prevent over-browning. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 hour. Refrigerate any leftover pie.
GLUTEN-FREE PIE CRUST
1-1/4 cups gluten-free multipurpose flour or brown rice flour blend (see how to make your own blend)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons instant fruit pectin (optional; not packed in a gluten-free facility)
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter
1 large egg
2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar
Lightly grease a 9-inch pie pan.
Whisk together the flour or flour blend, sugar, fruit pectin, xanthan gum, and salt. Cut the cold butter into pats, then work the pats into the flour mixture until it's crumbly, with some larger, pea-sized chunks of butter remaining.
Whisk the egg and vinegar or lemon juice together till very foamy. Mix into the dry ingredients. Stir until the mixture holds together, adding 1 to 3 additional tablespoons cold water if necessary.
Shape into a ball and chill for an hour, or up to overnight.
Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling. Roll out on a piece of plastic wrap, on a silicone rolling mat, or in a pie bag that's been heavily sprinkled with gluten-free flour or flour blend. Invert the crust into the prepared pie pan.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BLEND: According to the chefs at King Arthur Flour, the following make-at-home blend, featuring stabilized brown rice flour, works pretty well when substituted for gluten-free multipurpose flour, and it tastes better than a blend using regular brown rice flour.
Whisk together 6 cups (28- 1/2 ounces) stabilized brown rice flour, 2 cups (10-3/4 ounces) potato starch and 1 cup (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch. Store airtight at room temperature. Note: You can substitute white rice flour for the brown rice flour if you like; it'll make your baked goods grittier (unless you manage to find a finely ground version).
Looking for caramel cake
Grace-Lewis also wants a recipe for caramel cake with caramel frosting. I'm told that Mrs. Benevides, who lived in Gulfport, Miss., made the best caramel cake ever back in the day and sold them in the old 4-H market.
Andrea Yeager, can be reached at ayeager51@cableone.net and takes requests at Cook's Exchange, P.O. Box 4567, Biloxi, MS 39535-4567.
This story was originally published November 19, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Cook's exchange: Buttermilk pie is a comfort food classic."