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Southern Living Buttermilk Pie

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It seems like everyone has their favorite buttermilk pie recipe. The one I’m using is from Southern Living, so how could it go wrong? It’s a wonderful lemony version that’s fairly easy to throw together with ingredients you probably already have in the fridge. Even though it has quite a bit of lemon in it, the tang is muted somewhat by the buttermilk. The combination is perfect to me, but if you prefer less lemon you can dial back the tablespoon of lemon zest to a teaspoon or so.

I love the texture of this pie. Don’t confuse buttermilk pie with chess pie. Chess pie doesn’t have buttermilk in it and it sometimes includes cornmeal for it’s texture. Even though I like both – check out my Chocolate Chess Pie recipe – buttermilk pie is a little higher on my pie-eating priority list. You don’t have a pie-eating priority list? You really need one.

I think you’ll enjoy this Southern Buttermilk Pie. I made it two hours ago and half of it’s gone already – taste testing, you know.

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Southern Buttermilk Pie

****Excellent version of buttermilk pie by Southern Living.

Servings: 8 - 10
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 C buttermilk
  • 1/2 C butter melted
  • 1 tbsp loosely packed lemon zest
  • 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Whisk together sugar and flour in a large bowl.  Whisk eggs and the rest of the ingredients into the flour mixture; pour into your favorite unbaked pie crust.

  2. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until almost set, shielding the edges with aluminum foil after 15 minutes so the crust doesn't burn.  Cool on a wire rack at least an hour.

Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Mine baked for almost an hour, but watch it after about 40 minutes.  The middle will still be a bit wiggly when you take it out.  It will set up upon cooling.

I served the pie with fresh cherries.  It was a great combination.  

The Incredible Empire Torte

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There are a few recipes that are very special to us and this is one of them. Bret’s mom (Ma) used to make this special (and very time-consuming) eight-layer torte for him every birthday. It’s not only beautiful, but is also one of the best cakes I’ve ever had!
Empire Torte
Ma retired from making these shortly after Bret and I were married and passed the torch on to me. One of my best memories was the Saturday spent at her house, carefully taking notes while she taught me every step of how to make it correctly. She’s a precious woman.

The instructions are very detailed, but when followed correctly produce a lovely cake, or torte, with a mouth-watering frosting. To begin with, you bake the dense, rough-crumbed cake on two cookie sheets and after cooled, cut it into eight similar rectangles. I say similar, because it’s challenging to get them perfectly the same. I used a ruler and ended up with a few small pieces left over.  Here’s what one of the sheets looked like after cooled, still in the aluminum foil form and then after they were cut:

Empire Torte Form

Empire Torte Squares

One-by-one they’re carefully stacked with that naughty frosting between each layer, then the final coating slathered all around the sides and tops of the cake. It’s a fight to see who gets to lick the frosting bowl, beater, spoon and whatever else it lands on.

Then, the final product. After being refrigerated for a couple of hours, which is necessary but tries your tastebuds’s patience, the cake is cut (again, another fight – this one for the end piece because it has the most frosting) and enjoyed with a tall glass of cold milk. The cake has no fat in it, so it comes out very textured, but a perfect combination with the creamy frosting.
Empire Torte Plated

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Empire Torte
***** Can't give enough stars to this one!  Handed down by Vella Blades many years ago.  Time-consuming, but perfect for a special occasion to wow guests or to make and devour at home. Read the recipe carefully before making this, as well as my Tips after the recipe!
Servings: 12
Ingredients
  • Cake:
  • 1 C sifted flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¾ C sugar
  • 4 egg whites
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp cream of tartar
  • 1/3 C sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • ¼ C water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp orange extract
  • Frosting:
  • 1 ¼ C butter , softened
  • 2 ½ squares melted unsweetened chocolate (or 10 squares of the new quarter ounce squares)
  • 1 ¼ tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp maple flavoring
  • 2 ½ C sifted powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place 18x12 inch sheet of heavy-duty foil on baking sheet. Fold sides to form 14X10 inch pan. Grease or butter foil. Prepare a second pan the same way.
  2. To make cake, sift flour, baking powder and sugar into large mixing bowl. In another bowl, beat egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until soft mounds form. Gradually add 1/3 C. sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. In a small bowl, combine egg yolks, water, vanilla and orange extract; add to dry ingredients. Beat 1 minute at medium speed, then remove from mixer and gently fold beaten egg whites into batter mixture until just mixed in. Spread evenly in 2 foil pans. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
  3. Cool cake for 10 minutes.
  4. To make frosting, melt butter in a small pan over low heat. Turn off heat and pour into a mixing bowl.
  5. Melt chocolate squares in the paper or bowl (in microwave), 30 to 45 seconds and stir.  If necessary continue in 7 second increments until melted and smooth. Cool chocolate for a minute or two, then pour into butter. Add vanilla and maple flavoring. Beat until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar ½ C at a time and mix until smooth and entirely combined.
  6. While frosting is mixing,  cut each cake into quarters and carefully  remove foil. Cover eight layers of cake tightly and separately with plastic wrap or frost immediately.
  7. Spread 2 1/2 to 3 tbsp. of frosting between each layer of cake and frost sides. Refrigerate cake for at least 2 hours. Use serrated knife or electric knife to cut ½ inch slices. Keep refrigerated.
Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Make sure you have no distractions while making this cake, and put aside a whole afternoon in which to do it.  Trust me. Read the recipe thoroughly and have ingredients on the counter when you begin.

When you start cutting the baked cake rectangles out of the aluminum foil, start with the pieces that may have browned and become crunchy on the ends. After you cut that off, use that rectangle to measure the rest. My last ones ended up about 8x4".

The frosting will take 20-30 minutes to thicken up using a stand mixer - don't be tempted to add more powdered sugar.  It won't be real thick like other cake frosting because it is so buttery and silky.  You'll see...

Keep refrigerated, keep refrigerated, keep refrigerated.  There's so much butter in the frosting that it will slide if you leave it out overnight!  I took it to a New Year's party and it sat out fine for that long, but keep refrigerated otherwise.

This sounds complicated, but is so satisfying both from a baker's point of view and an eating point of view.

Cant-Leave-Alone Bars

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So, I’m still trying to use up the gunny sack of chocolate chips Bret brought home from Costco.  I’m not complaining (!), but we needed something a little varied from chocolate chip cookies.  Oh, and by the way, I have the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies that my sister put in our little cookbook – I’ll post that another day.  This recipe for Cant-Leave-Alone Bars originated from Taste of Home magazine and has been floating around the “cloud” for years.

Cant leave alone bars

The filling for this bar is the best part and when warm tastes like deep chocolate brownie pudding.  It’s hard to describe, but is delicious.  If I’m doing an honest review of the bar, though, I’d prefer a shortbread base and oatmeal streusel topping instead of the cake mix.  That would make it perfect!  One day I’ll experiment with that and post the results.  You can’t go wrong with these if you want something quick and sweet, though, and I think kids would really like them.

Cant Leave Alone Bars2

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Can't-Leave-Alone Bars
***Very good for a quick, sweet snack.  It makes about 30 little bars and will use up that cake mix that's getting ready to expire....
Servings: 30 bars
Ingredients
  • 1 box white cake mix
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk(not evaporated)
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 stick butter , cut small
Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 350°.  Grease a 13x9x2" baking pan.  Beat cake mix, eggs and oil in a large bowl till blended.  Press 2/3 in pan and reserve the rest. 

  2. Microwave condensed milk, chocolate and butter in a bowl on high for 1 min.  Stir well, then pour evenly over crust.  Top with teaspoons of reserved cake mixture.  Bake 20-25 min.  Cool.  Cut into bars.

Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:

You'll want to cut these small since the filling is so sweet and rich.

Chocolate cake mix would be good on this one, too, and would be oh so rich and decadent.