Update: I just got a lovely note from Barbara Duke, one of the authors of Panache at Rose Hill. Here’s what she has to say about this lovely pie!
I just woke up from one of those sloppy weekend naps. It was the kind of nap that left my face barely recognizable from marks from the pillow case folds. It was the kind of nap that might very well have taken place in the back seat of my car, at 173 degrees F. I feel like, lying here in my bedroom on this summer afternoon I may have just baked my brain. I can’t blog bout that, that’s not good for you.
I just took the kind of nap that makes me wish I could take it all back. It now feels like a mistake. I might have just felt better if I stood in the road and waited for Mac truck to hit me. I just took the kind of tragic, unforgiving nap that can only be healed with creamy coffee and buttermilk pie with warm blackberry sauce.
Keep reading, I have a story to tell you about this pie.
I met this girl. Ok, maybe ‘met’ is a strong work. She’s in Alabama, I’m in California. We’re blog buddies. Her name is Evan and she might be one of the most darling people of the face of the planet. Evan has a new blog called Buttercakes by Evan. If you love me at all you’ll hop on over there right now and show Evan some love.
Evan was recently kind enough to send me her grandmothers cookbook Panache at Rose Hill. See, Evan’s grandmother and her business partner bought a southern planters home of 25 acres of land. With a few loans, help from husbands, and a lot of elbow grease, they transformed the home into a beautiful restaurant and event site. The cookbook is an account of that journey, a brief history of the land and the house, and an absolutely amazing Southern cookbook.
I’m so honored to have this book. Thank you so much Evan.
I knew I had to try the Buttermilk Pie with Warm Blackberry Sauce. It sounded like the perfect southern treat. The pie bakes up pale and sweet, with just a hint of tang from the buttermilk. I served mine chilled with warm blackberry sauce. It’s gorgeous. Right now, it’s just the thing to cure my nap hangover.
Thank you Evan. Thank you bunches!
Buttermilk Pie with Warm Blackberry Sauce
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 stick melted butter, slightly cooled.
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons pur vanilla extrct
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
Beat eggs slightly. Mix sugar and flour well and add to the eggs. Mix until creamy. Add melted butter, mixing well. Add buttermilk and vanilla extract. Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes to 1 hour (my pie took about 1 hour and 15 minutes) until the custard sets. Tip: the custard will still jiggle a bit in the oven even when it’s set. Just make sure that the middle does not jiggle a lot more than the sides. That means it needs more time.
Blackberry Sauce
1/2 cup seedless blackberry preserves
1 Tablespoon Chamborde liqueur, also consider orange liqueur or a bit of Triple Sec
Pour the preserves in a saucepan and arm on medium heat, stirring constantly with wire whip until smooth. Remove from heat and add liqueur. Let cool slightly and drizzle over pie.
Pie Dough
2 sticks (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk, cold
Cut butter into 1 inch pieces and place in the freezer to chill for 15 minutes.
Sift together the flour and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Sifting eliminates lumps and aerates the mixture, making the dough tender and lighter. Add the partially frozen butter and the salt. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes, or until the butter is reduced to the size of broken walnut meats. Stop the machine and by hand pinch flat any large pieces of butter that remain.
Turn the mixer on low speed and add the buttermilk all at once. Mix until the dough comes together, about 15 seconds. The dough should be tacky, but not sticky, and still rather shaggy.
Remove the dough from the bowl and quickly form into a rough disk. Wrap in plastic. Try not to overowrk the dough. Chill for at least 1 hour before rolling out. At this point the dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 weeks. For freezing roll the dough into sheets and wrap them in airtight plastic film first.
Heather
This looks amazing! If you were going to say … add coconut, how much unsweetened would you think it would without overwhelming the filling’s flavor?
Jennifer
This house/restaurant at Panache, which Evan’s Mimi bought, was originally owned by my husband’s great-grandmother. We have just discovered your blog and love it! How small a world! I am trying this recipe this weekend!
forky
Help and hello!
I’m a bit confused by the recipe and the picutres . Do I first make the pie dough, freeze it, put it then in a form and then fill it up with the custard and then put it in the oven? So everything bakes together at the same time? I would love to make this cake, but I’m just too confused!
joythebaker
sorry for the confusion. once you make the pie dough you have two options. if you aren’t going to make the pie right away, you can wrap the pie dough in the disk and keep it in the fridge for up to three days. when you’re ready to use it.. just let the dough disk sit on the counter for about 20 minutes, then roll out and fill with custard and bake.
if you’re not going to use the dough for a long time… like weeks… you can wrap the disk in plastic wrap and freeze it. when you’re ready to use it, let the dough thaw in the fridge over night then follow the above directions.
if you’re going to use the dough right away, just it the disk rest in the fridge for an hour, roll it out and fill with custard and bake.
is that more clear? hope so! happy baking!
forky
Thank you so much for replying!
joythebaker
sorry it took me so dang long!
Mollie
Oh my goodness gracious.
I’ve never even heard of a buttermilk pie before this! I cannot believe I’ve lived 23 years on this great earth and no one has introduced me to buttermilk pie. Its incredible.
Thanks Joy for FINALLY introducing me to the sweet, but not so sweet, perfect wednesday afternoon pick me up.
Melissa
I love how one of the drops is heart shaped! Now you know when I copy this recipe, I’m gonna have to make sure there’s a little heart drop too.
Becky at VintageMixer
I make a similar pie, my grandmother’s recipe, and it literally produces friendships.She called it Chess Pie. Here is my version: https://www.thevintagemixer.com/2009/11/chess-pie.html
Plus, if you didn’t see this yet, a similar recipe called, Crack Pie, was featured on Bon Appetit: https://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2010/09/crack-pie.html
Sheri G
UPDATE: I made the pies…. still recovering from surgery, so didn’t get to enter it into the pie contest :( super disappointed, but I made them a little later……… my husband just requested I make another one. I will tell you he does not like pie much. Nor anything with fruit related to a pie. He’s a pumpkin pie guy and that’s reserved for Thanksgiving Day( I know… who could possibly NOT love pie?). So when he says it’s the best dang pie he’s ever had, and he hopes I never stop making it…….. well…… I can’t take any credit.. YOU ARE A GENIUS, and I love that I found a dessert he loves! Thank you!!!!!!!
Sheri G
I am making this pie for our church pie contest. I intend on having NO competition! I don’t think there will be one of these there at all, everyone else will be bringing apple and peach etc. I’ll let you know the outcome of the contest! I’m super competitive, so will be baking about 4 of these and taking the BEST one to the church. I seriously hate losing……… LOL even in church, and especially in a cooking contest!!!!!!!! The other 3 pies are for sharing at the senior center and one for us to enjoy at home. YAY!
Patty Tomaskovic
Joy,
Your buttermilk pie crust was a hit! Yesterday, I baked a fpeach pie using fresh peaches and everyone loved it! Today, I will make this Buttermilk Pie. Thanks for the great recipes, tips and inspiration!
And…..Happy 4th of July to you!
Patty
Kate
I made this pie for my family, and it was a huge hit – now they ask for it whenever we have family get-togethers! (and I have to make at least two, it goes quickly!) I made it with a cold raspberry sauce, using frozen raspberries and orange juice with just a little sugar – delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe :)
Angela@spinachtiger
I just tried buttermilk pie for the first time. It was so sweet, I couldn’t eat it. But, then I got intriqued because I like custardy desserts and I know the magic of buttermilk.
Surely, I can cut the sugar. This recipe with the blackberry sauce grabbed my attention as I think it might help cut the sweetness. I think I’ll go for this recipe and even further reduce the sugar. I want to do the pie crust too. It sounds so good.
Kristin
Oh my gosh. I live in the south and I’ve never heard of this pie before. Just made it and it’s soooooooo GOOD!!!
Melanie Hayes
My boyfriend and I just made this pie… it was delicious. no surprise there. However, after we made it, we found a bowl of melted butter in the microwave…. we had forgotten to put it in the pie filling. But it tasted awesome none the less, so I guess if anyone out there wants to cute a stick of butter out of the recipe, it worked for us! haha. I guess that means it will be that much better next time we make it.
Erin
Joy, I’m a new reader. I just made this last night. The only change I would make is not starting baking a pie at 11:30p.m. It was delish! Thanks!