Born out of ingenuity and frugality, pantry pies or desperation pies are baked dishes that make use of what you already have at home. These recipes have endured because they not only provided workarounds to unavailable ingredients, but they ended up, in most cases, as good as the dishes they were meant to mimic.
One such recipe is buttermilk pie, a version of a custard pie that was developed in America during World War II, when cream was scarce or unaffordable.
Buttermilk is traditionally made by culturing milk with Lactococcus lactis, a bacteria that converts lactose into lactic acid and thickens the milk, turning it into a replacement for cream. Buttermilk offers a subtle tartness that straight custard lacks. The resulting pie also has a denser mouthfeel and holds up better at room temperature.?
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