Classic Buttermilk Pie
By: Elliott
Published: Thursday, September 15, 2011 - 11:54am

Ingredients




3 eggs
1 cup sugar (or a hair less)
2 tablespoons flour, plus a little for dusting
1/2 cup melted butter
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell (see below)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Preparation

1 Beat eggs slightly and add sugar and flour. Then add melted butter and mix well. Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix. 2 Dust the unbaked pie shell with a little bit of flour. Pour batter into shell, and then sprinkle a little more flour on top. 3 Bake at 325 degrees until the custard is set, approximately 1 hour. 4 Pie Crust: 5 Makes 2 pie crusts 6 Sift flour, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Add chilled butter and lard. Working quickly and using your fingertips, rub or cut fat into dry ingredients until the mixture resembles course meal. 7 Sprinkle on ice water, 2-3 tablespoons at a time, and toss with a fork. Turn dough out onto your work surface and, using the heel of your hand, smear dough away from you, about 1/4 cup at a time. Scrape it up into a ball and wrap in wax paper. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours. 8 Roll dough out to 1/4-inch thickness on a floured work surface. Line a 9-inch pie plate with half of the dough. Crimp edges for a single-crust pie. 9 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 10 2 teaspoons granulated sugar 11 1 teaspoon salt 12 8 tablespoons (1 stick) sweet butter, chilled 13 6 tablespoons lard, chilled 14 5-6 tablespoons ice water, as needed

About

Buttermilk is thick, slightly paler than eggnog, and yes, it's tart. There is no butter in buttermilk: It's actually low-fat or non-fat milk that has been fermented by various bacteria, in a process similar to the way yogurt is made.
But it's good for so many things. It makes a gorgeous  batter for frying chicken, makes homemade biscuits, rolls and cornbread tender, mashed potatoes just faintly tangy, and of course, pancakes light and fluffy.The pie should be firm with a top boldly golden, the crust a little brown. 
If the pie is removed from the oven prematurely, the dessert looks like pudding spilling from a crust.