Buttermilk Pie
By Cristin WalshPublished on July 10, 2013
Time
1¾ hours, plus 1 hour chilling and 3½ hours cooling
Yield
Serves 8
Ingredients
CRUST
1 (9-inch) single-crust pie dough 1 large egg white, lightly beatenFILLING
¾ cup (5 ¼ ounces/149 grams) plus 2 teaspoons sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch ¾ teaspoon salt 2 large eggs plus 5 large yolks1 ¾ cups 1 percent low-fat buttermilk ¼ cup heavy cream 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extractBefore You Begin
All pies are best with homemade crust, and this one is no exception (find our recipe for Single-Crust Pie Dough in the related content section.) But if you lack the time, our favorite store-bought crust is Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts. Avoid nonfat buttermilk here.
Instructions
- Roll dough into 12-inch circle on lightly floured counter. Transfer to 9-inch pie plate. Fold overhanging dough under itself so edge of fold is flush with outer rim of plate, and crimp edge. Refrigerate for 40 minutes, then freeze for 20 minutes. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line chilled pie shell with 2 (12-inch) squares of parchment paper, letting parchment lie over edges of dough, and fill with pie weights. Place pie plate on rimmed baking sheet and bake on lower-middle oven rack until lightly golden around edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove parchment and weights, rotate sheet, and continue to bake until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Brush surface of hot crust with egg white (you won’t need all of it to coat crust) and bake for 1 minute longer.
- Meanwhile, whisk 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk eggs and yolks into sugar mixture until well combined. Whisk buttermilk, cream, melted butter, vinegar, and vanilla into sugar-egg mixture until incorporated.
- Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Whisk buttermilk mixture to recombine and, leaving pie shell in oven, carefully pour buttermilk mixture into hot pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle remaining 2 teaspoons sugar evenly over top of pie. Continue to bake until filling in center of pie registers 180 degrees (filling will jiggle slightly when pie is shaken; pie will set as it cools), 30 to 40 minutes. Remove pie from oven and increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Once oven comes to temperature, place pie on upper-middle oven rack and bake until golden brown on top, 5 to 7 minutes. Let pie cool for 30 minutes on wire rack. Transfer to refrigerator to chill, about 3 hours. Serve.
for the crust
for the filling
Time
1¾ hours, plus 1 hour chilling and 3½ hours coolingYield
Serves 8Ingredients
CRUST
FILLING
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
CRUST
FILLING
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
CRUST
FILLING
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
UPDATE: This recipe has been slightly reformulated to be more failproof since its initial publication. The revision you see here was published in July of 2021. To put the tang back in this Southern dessert, we nearly doubled the amount of buttermilk called for in most recipes. A moderate hand with the sugar and a splash of white vinegar further accentuate the buttermilk flavor. We found that cornstarch fared better than flour for thickening our filling, and plenty of egg yolks and heavy cream didn’t hurt either. To keep the pie from curdling in the oven, we bake it at a gentle 300 degrees, cranking the heat only at the end to create a crackly, crisp top.
Before You Begin
All pies are best with homemade crust, and this one is no exception (find our recipe for Single-Crust Pie Dough in the related content section.) But if you lack the time, our favorite store-bought crust is Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts. Avoid nonfat buttermilk here.
Instructions
- Roll dough into 12-inch circle on lightly floured counter. Transfer to 9-inch pie plate. Fold overhanging dough under itself so edge of fold is flush with outer rim of plate, and crimp edge. Refrigerate for 40 minutes, then freeze for 20 minutes. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line chilled pie shell with 2 (12-inch) squares of parchment paper, letting parchment lie over edges of dough, and fill with pie weights. Place pie plate on rimmed baking sheet and bake on lower-middle oven rack until lightly golden around edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove parchment and weights, rotate sheet, and continue to bake until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Brush surface of hot crust with egg white (you won’t need all of it to coat crust) and bake for 1 minute longer.
- Meanwhile, whisk 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk eggs and yolks into sugar mixture until well combined. Whisk buttermilk, cream, melted butter, vinegar, and vanilla into sugar-egg mixture until incorporated.
- Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Whisk buttermilk mixture to recombine and, leaving pie shell in oven, carefully pour buttermilk mixture into hot pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle remaining 2 teaspoons sugar evenly over top of pie. Continue to bake until filling in center of pie registers 180 degrees (filling will jiggle slightly when pie is shaken; pie will set as it cools), 30 to 40 minutes. Remove pie from oven and increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Once oven comes to temperature, place pie on upper-middle oven rack and bake until golden brown on top, 5 to 7 minutes. Let pie cool for 30 minutes on wire rack. Transfer to refrigerator to chill, about 3 hours. Serve.
for the crust
for the filling
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