Buttermilk Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between a chess pie and a buttermilk pie? ›

Chess pie is thickened with cornmeal (and sometimes a little bit of all-purpose flour!), whereas buttermilk pies uses only all-purpose flour. Many buttermilk recipes will play up the tartness, with added lemon juice and zest, giving it a pleasant citrus flavor.

Buttermilk pie tastes like a buttery, vanilla custard, baked into a flaky, also buttery pie crust. Buttermilk lends a pleasant creaminess, and lemon zest and juice help to boost the pies tang. It's a simple, sweet, tangy delight!

Remember, this is a custard pie, which means it is not only going to continue cooking once it comes out of the oven, but it also needs time to cool and set. Custard pies need at least 2 hours to properly set before being cut into. If your Buttermilk Pie is runny, it might have been underbaked.

Both versions are finished with buttery, brown sugar crumbs. Pie lore offers two explanations for its unusual name. The simple one is that flies get stuck in the sticky-sweet molasses, so bakers must shoo them away. The second explanation is that the pie was named after the 19th-century “Shoofly” brand of molasses.

Name change

Some food writers and others have criticized naming foods including Crack Pie after addictive substances as insensitive and offensive. In May 2019, Devra First of the Boston Globe criticized the name in a column for making light of addiction by alluding to the addictiveness of crack cocaine.

Baking with buttermilk

Not only does it deepen the flavor of your bake, but the acid in the buttermilk works with leaveners like baking soda to give it a fluffier interior crumb and more rise. However, it does not react the same way with baking powder.

Today chess pie is most commonly associated as a dessert of the American South. Common types of chess pie are buttermilk, chocolate, lemon, and nut.

Why is My Buttermilk Pie Runny? It may not be fully cooked, OR it may be fully cooked but not fully cooled. You want to make sure to fully let the pie cool at room temperature (at least 2 hours) before you slice it to avoid it being runny.

Vintage Funeral Pie Recipe is an old-fashioned dessert that is made from raisins, spices, and walnuts. It was traditionally made by the Amish, but this sugary pie fits right into a Southern cook's recipe box.

Traditional buttermilk pie with a splash of Bird Dog Blackberry Whiskey. The Bird Dog gives a subtle berry undertone. If you haven't had Buttermilk Pie, it's similar to Chess Pie… very sweet!

What is crack pie made of? ›

Fun Fact: I've never been to New York City so I've never actually tried the famous Momof*cku Milk Bar Crack Pie. As the name suggests, it is a super addictive pie made with a homemade oat cookie pie crust and a rich, buttery brown sugar filling.

Yes, you can swap them in a recipe, but it's not as simple as switching buttermilk for heavy cream/heavy cream for buttermilk. For example, if you're replacing buttermilk with heavy cream you'll probably need to switch out your baking soda for baking powder.

A homemade Buttermilk Pie will typically last for about 2 days at room temperature if covered with a foil or plastic wrap. If you put it in the refrigerator, it can last for around 4-6 days. As it's often served cold, this is an ideal option. If you want to freeze your homemade Buttermilk Pie, you can do.

A: Dotting the top of a fruit pie filling with butter is an old habit but one that is called for in only about half of the pie recipes out there. Some maintain that the butter is for taste; others claim that it helps the filling set up, particularly when using flour as a thickener.

“After reading through one of my older cookbooks, it's important to note that while most chess pies — especially the ones we see today — have dairy in them, some do not. Cornmeal as a stabilizer in the filling is distinct to chess pie.” Buttermilk is the main factor in differentiating the two pies.

And so, supposedly, the name “Chess Pie” was coined. Chess pie and its many Southern variations — including vinegar pie, transparent pie and Tyler pie (a favorite of Edna Lewis's, putatively named for President John Tyler and perfected by the women of Miss Lewis's hometown of Freetown, Va.)

Jefferson Davis pie is similar to chess pie, but Jefferson Davis pie may also contain spices, nuts, or dried fruits and is usually topped with meringue.

What is the difference between this pie and custard pie? While both pies have a custard filling, the main difference is that chess pie has cornmeal in the filling. There is also acidity added (from the cider vinegar) to balance out the sweetness of the chess pie.