An Inspired Cook

My Mom’s buttermilk pies are one of my favorite things on earth.  Every time I bake a buttermilk pie it brings back memories of Mom in the kitchen.  Mom is now 91 almost 92 and she doesn’t cook anymore.  Although she is doing well physically she doesn’t remember things like she used to.  A few years back when we went back to the farm to visit, Mom decided she was going to make a pie.  She didn’t have any buttermilk so she set some milk out on the counter and it ultimately spoiled.  In her mind if the milk went a little sour it would be just like buttermilk. As we all sat down at the table and took that first bite we all just about gagged.  We asked Mom if her milk was old and she told us what she had done.  We all just looked at each other and started giggling.  She didn’t know what we were giggling about, she looked at us like we were crazy and went on eating her slice of pie like it was the best thing. You see, she has lost her taste buds as well and she didn’t taste the spoiled milk like we did. When we get together we all have a good laugh about the spoiled milk pies, even though Mom can’t remember any of it.

These 2 pies are almost identical, they use the same ingredients but are cooked in different ways.  They both need butter, sugar, flour, buttermilk, egg yolks, lemon juice and zest.  The pie filling for the meringue pie is cooked ahead on top of the stove and has the texture of a thick creamy pudding while the custard pie filling is baked in the oven.

For the meringue pie you will need a pre-baked pie crust.  To do this prepare your pie crust in a pie plate.  Next, chill the pie crust in the freezer for 30 minutes .

When the crust is sufficiently chilled, line the pie with aluminum foil and fill the bottom with pie weights.  If you don’t have pie weights, dry beans or rice will work just fine.  Place crust in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Remove and let cool for a few minutes.

Remove the aluminum foil and pie weights.  Poke holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork and return to the oven and cook an additional 10 minutes, just until the pie crust starts to brown.

Time to make the pie filling for the meringue pie.  In a medium saucepan combine butter, sugar and flour.

Cook over medium heat stirring constantly.

Add the buttermilk and stir until the butter has melted.

Add lemon juice and zest.

Whisk the egg yolks and ladle the warm mixture into the eggs.  Whisk in about half of the mixture to temper the eggs.

Pour back into the saucepan and bring just to a boil.

Heat the mixture over medium heat.  Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens about 5 – 10 minutes.

To make the meringue whisk together 6 egg whites.  The extra egg yolks will go into the custard pie.

Beat egg whites with a whisk attachment adding 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Beat until the egg whites become stiff peaks.

Pour the pie filling into the baked pie shell.

Fold the meringue over the pie and bake approximately 15 minutes or until meringue peaks begin to brown.

It should look like this when it comes out of the oven.

For the custard pie I melted the butter with the flour and sugar.

Then I let the mixture cool and transferred to a mixing bowl.  Pour in the buttermilk, lemon juice and lemon zest. If the mixture is too warm, temper the eggs like the pictures above.  If the mixture has cooled sufficiently, add the egg yolks and mix together either with a whisk or with a hand mixer with the whisk attachment.

Pour the pie filling into an unbaked pie shell.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 50 – 60 minutes or until center is firm.

Mom always made meringue buttermilk pies but I found a recipe that had the exact same ingredients only cooked as a custard pie that I had to try.  With the extra egg whites that were used from the custard pie you can make and even more extravagant meringue.  I love this pie both ways, one is cool and creamy with meringue and the other is warm custard that tastes so good. It’s hard to choose which one is best. The one difference I made is the meringue pie was baked in an 8 inch pie plate and the custard in a 9 inch pie plate.





Mom’s Buttermilk Pies (Meringue and Custard)

Meringue Pie

1 cup Sugar
3 tablespoons Flour
1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Buttermilk
3 Egg Yolks
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Zest of 1/2 Lemon
1 Pre-Baked Pie Crust for an 8 inch Pie Plate

Meringue

6 Egg Whites
3 tablespoons Sugar

To make pre-baked pie crust:  Take one store bought or homemade pie crust, roll out and lay into an 8 inch pie plate.  Chill the crust in the freezer for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  When the pie crust is sufficiently chilled, line with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights, dry beans or rice.  Bake with the weights 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and poke small holes into the crust with a fork.  Return to oven without the weights and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.  You may need to cover the edges with a pie shield or aluminum foil to keep the edges from getting burned.

To make pie filling:  In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine sugar, flour, butter and buttermilk.  Cook slowly and stir until the butter has melted.  Add lemon juice and zest then remove from heat.  Whisk the egg yolks and ladle a spoonful at a time the buttermilk mixture into the egg yolks.  Whisk after each spoonful to temper the eggs until you’ve added approximately 1/2 of the mixture.  Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat to medium.  Stir the mixture approximately 5 – 10 minutes until the mixture thickens.  Pour mixture into a pre-baked pie crust.

To make meringue:  Using a hand or stand mixer beat 6 egg whites adding sugar one tablespoon at a time until the egg whites make stiff peaks.  Fold over pie filling

Bake pie for 10 – 15 minutes or until the meringue peaks begin to brown.

Let pie cool completely before slicing.  Refrigerate any uneaten pie.

Custard Buttermilk Pie

1 cup Sugar
3 tablespoons Flour
1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Buttermilk
3 Egg Yolks
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Zest of 1/2 Lemon
Unbaked Pie Crust for a 9 inch pie plate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter along with the sugar and flour.  When the butter has melted remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Pour mixture into a mixing bowl and add buttermilk, lemon juice and zest.  If mixture is cool add egg yolks and whisk together.  If not temper the eggs with some of the warm mixture.  Pour the mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Cover the edges with a pie shield or aluminum foil.  Bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until center is firm.