Buttermilk pie is one of the greatest desserts. I ate it often growing up because my childhood friend's mother made the best buttermilk pie in the world. I haven't had it in years (not for lack of trying, though... there was one buttermilk pie failure with friends in NYC a few years ago), but I stumbled upon this recipe a few days ago and brought it to a friend's house for dessert this weekend. It was delicious. The vanilla bean in this recipe definitely added another layer of flavor and this pie hit the spot. A southern classic! Make sure you don't overcook the pie- you want it to be just barely set so that its still custardy when you serve it. *Adapted from Karen Barker's Sweet Stuff.
INGREDIENTS
1 9-inch raw pie crust (store bought or homemade)
1 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 vanilla bean, seeded
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons melted butter
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pre-bake the pie crust for 10 minutes with parchment paper lining the crust and pie weights or beans on top of the parchment paper. Remove crust from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, egg yolks, vanilla bean seeds, cornstarch, and salt. The mixture will be very thick. Slowly whisk in the buttermilk and cream until well incorporated. Slowly stream in the melted butter and whisk well. Pour into the bottom of the (slightly) pre-baked crust and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven temperature down to 325 and bake another 30 minutes, until pie is just set in the middle but still jiggly. Remove from oven, let cool to room temperature. Serve slightly chilled.
