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Easy, Delicious Buttermilk Pastry

I have several buttermilk pastry recipes, but I find myself returning to this one quite often. This recipe makes one double-crust pie. I use the scraps to cut shapes that I can bake and freeze to float on soup or garnish a bowl of pudding. Cutouts are also perfect for embellishing the top of a pie.

Easy, Delicious Buttermilk Pastry

Dry Ingredients: 

2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled

1 tablespoon of granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon of salt

In a bowl, whisk dry ingredients together and set aside. 

Moist Ingredients:

⅓ cup of vegetable shortening, chilled and cubed

¼ cup of butter, chilled and cubed

¾ of a cup of buttermilk

Cut butter and shortening into dry ingredients using a pastry blender or two forks. Work until the crumbs are pea-sized. 

Pour the buttermilk over the flour mixture and toss lightly with a fork until the dough starts to hold together. If the dough seems crumbly, add a drop more buttermilk. Sometimes, in dry climates, more moisture is necessary.

Gather the dough together, then divide it in half. Flatten each half into a disk and plastic wrap individually. Refrigerate the pastry for at least 30 minutes. I often chill it overnight. 

Flour the counter and roll out the pastry until it fits your pie plate or can be cut into tart shells. This pastry is easy to handle.  

Rustic Buttermilk Bread

This recipe is much like an Irish soda bread but does not contain lard or shortening. One old recipe from the 1960s calls for honey, and many suggest molasses, but I love this version,  which includes Roger's Golden Syrup. Often these loaves were baked in a Dutch Oven, on top of a stove, in kitchens where there was no oven available. 

Make sure you mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another, so as not to activate the leavening process prematurely. 

Although this bread is best served on the day you bake it, I often freeze slices between sheets of wax paper and enjoy it toasted. 

Rustic Buttermilk Bread

Dry Ingredients: 

2 cups whole wheat or whole spelt flour (I use spelt)

2 cups all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

Wet Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of Rogers Golden Syrup

1 egg beaten

1 ½ cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Grease or line a cookie sheet. I used my Silpat silicone liner. 

In a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In another bowl, combine Rogers Golden Syrup, beaten egg, and buttermilk. 

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix to combine thoroughly. Knead a few times (10 to 12) on a board sprinkled with rolled oats.

Shape the dough into a ball and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake the loaf for 50 to 60 minutes or until it makes a hollow sound when tapped on top. This bread slices easily while warm, but an uncut loaf makes a beautiful centrepiece. Feel free to cut it when you are about to serve. 

Oh My - Pecan Pie

Let me share a secret! Pecan Pie is probably the simplest of all recipes to make, yet it is one of the most impressive. You need an uncooked pastry shell, which you can make or buy frozen from the grocery store.

I make this recipe in an old enamel pie pan that my parents received in 1947 for a wedding gift. This pie pan is 8 inches across the bottom and 9 inches across the top. The issue is that it is only 1 inch deep, and, therefore, I must use a drip catcher beneath it. Inevitably, some spattering occurs. It may be wiser to use a pan that is 1.5 inches deep or 10 inches at the inner rim.

This pecan pie is even tastier the next day. Keep it on the counter overnight, under a screen dome. I like to freeze leftovers in serving-size pieces. Cut the pie into eight wedges; it is rich.

                                    Oh My - Pecan Pie

Preheat oven to 350°F

Ingredients:

½ cup of butter or margarine

½ cup of granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 cup of corn syrup or Rogers Golden Syrup

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of pecans, halved or in pieces

1 unbaked 10-inch pie shell 

Preparation:

Cream the butter and granulated sugar.  Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the syrup and vanilla. Fold the nuts into the sweet mixture. 

Pour the filling into the prepared pastry shell. Place the pie on a drip catcher, in the bottom third of a preheated oven. 

Bake at 350°F for 45 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Enjoy a piece once the pie has cooled. After a day in the pantry, this pie can be sliced and frozen. This pie is one of the boy’s favourites.

My Favourite Raisin Streusel Pie

Line a pie plate with pastry and refrigerate until you are ready to fill it. I often use a transparent Pyrex pie plate measuring 7 inches at the bottom and 8.5 inches at the rim. Mine measures 1.5 inches deep. I love to be able to check for a nice brown crust.   

Filling:

In a one-quart saucepan, mix the following ingredients.

1 ½ cups of raisins

1 cup of hot water

1 teaspoon of vinegar

½ teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of butter

In a little bowl, mix, before adding to the pot

½ cup of brown sugar with

2 tablespoons of cornstarch 

Mixing prevents the cornstarch from clumping when added to the other ingredients.

On medium heat, bring the above ingredients to a boil, cooking and stirring until the raisin filling thickens.

Pour the raisin filling into an unbaked pie shell and cover with the streusel topping. 

Bake the pie in the lower third of the oven at 425°F for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375°F and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes.

There are many recipes for streusel toppings, but for this pie, I prefer the following mixture. Don’t feel you must use all of your prepared crumbs; keep the remainder in a glass jar in the fridge.  Sprinkle leftover streusel over baked apples or crisp toast. Decades ago, it was customary to make large jars of streusel to have on hand for sprinkling on top of muffins, cakes, or pies before baking.

Streusel Topping:

2/3 of a cup of flour

6 tablespoons of brown sugar

6 tablespoons of butter

½ teaspoon of cinnamon

¼ teaspoon of allspice

Using a pastry cutter or two forks, blend this mixture into crumbs. Sprinkle a layer of crumbs over the top of the raisin filling and bake.