Nana’s Buttermilk Pie

Few things speak to this Texan’s heart like pie. And one that truly takes me back to my childhood is my Nana’s buttermilk pie. I wrote a post about Buttermilk Pie on my main blog. You can read it here.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) butter (melted)
¾ cup buttermilk
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

You will also need:

9” pie plate
1 unbaked pie crust (your favorite recipe)
Stand mixer

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 ºF.

Cream together eggs & sugar using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer. Drizzle in melted butter & mix well. Add buttermilk, salt and vanilla. Pour into an unbaked pie shell.

Bake @ 350 for about 40-45 minutes or until set. (The top will form a little bit of a crust, so it may be difficult to tell, but you do not want to over-bake. I would be hesitant to cook longer than the 45… maybe 46 minutes.)

Cool completely. It is best when made ahead of time and refrigerated to allow the custard to really set up. Serve either cold from the refrigerator or at a cool room temperature.

Now, with pictures:

Cream together eggs & sugar using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer.

You want to drizzle in melted butter in case it is still hot. You don’t want to chance dumping it all in at once and curdling the eggs.

Add buttermilk, salt and vanilla.

Mix until just a little frothy… you want to see a few bubbles on top.

Pour into an unbaked pie shell.

Bake @ 350 for about 40-45 minutes or until set. (The top will form a little bit of a crust, so it may be difficult to tell, but you do not want to over-bake. I would be hesitant to cook longer than the 45… maybe 46 minutes.)

Refrigerate before slicing and serving for best results.

For very clean-cut pieces, cut when cold out of the refrigerator. At room temp, the crust on top will shred just a little (see the picture with strawberries at the top of this post) and the custard might loosen up a little. It still tastes wonderful, it just gives the piece of pie a little more rugged look.

Variations:

• Serve with some fresh macerated berries.
• Add 1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg to the custard.
• Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and/or 1 tablespoon of finely grated lemon zest to the custard.
• Add 1/2 cup shredded coconut to the custard.