Buttermilk pie

Buttermilk Pie is a very traditional pie from the southern United States. In short, the one that grandmothers have done to their grandchildren in Alabama and Tennessee for generations.

INGREDIENTS :

• 300 grams of sugar (1 cup and a half)
• 1 cup (200 ml) buttermilk / buttermilk *
• Half a cup of melted butter (100 ml) *
• 3 XL size eggs
• 3 level tablespoons white wheat flour
• 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 sheet of shortcrust pastry (the one that does not rise)
• A cake pan about 22 cm / 9 inches in diameter with walls about 5 to 6 cm (2-2.5 inches) high (low pan)
• To decorate: berries, icing sugar, whipped cream, etc, whatever you want (or nothing)

* If you cannot find buttermilk / buttermilk, you can make both ingredients (buttermilk and butter) with heavy cream, as I will explain below.

To make buttermilk and butter we need 2 liters (10 cups) of cream with a fat content of 35/38%.

We beat it with the electric rods until we mount the cream. Once assembled, continue beating until suddenly the liquid material will separate from the solid (it will be as if it had been cut). The liquid matter is the buttermilk, which we will separate by simple decantation, and the solid will be butter that we will collect and melt in the microwave until we obtain the half cup, 100 ml, that we need).

As it is very fast to carry out, the first thing we must do is preheat the oven to 180 degrees (356 F).

We grate the lemon peel and reserve it. We cut in half and squeeze one of the halves.

In a bowl we pour the buttermilk, the melted butter, the flour, the grated lemon peel, the juice obtained, the three eggs and the vanilla extract. We beat well until a homogeneous mass remains.

On the mold we arrange the shortcrust pastry so that it takes the shape. We cut the excess.

We pour the mixture that we have previously obtained over the broken dough.

We put in the oven for 45 minutes, checking after 40 minutes that when you stick a toothpick, it comes out completely dry. If the edges of the shortcrust are too dark, it is best to remove the cake and cover them with a strip of aluminum foil. Then it is reintroduced, there will be no problem with the cake rising and falling, it is not that type of cake.

It is removed from the oven and allowed to cool to room temperature. Then if you want it is covered with some type of fruit or whipped cream. It is not usually put in the fridge, but nothing happens if you do it like this to keep it longer or consume it another day. When you go to eat it is removed from the refrigerator at least an hour before.