To Make Buttermilk is Easy – Then What?
Make Buttermilk and Make Happiness. Buttermilk is one of those simple life pleasures from which so much deliciousness can be gained. As discussed earlier, it is fairly simple to make buttermilk. Simply put, soured cream has the dickens whipped out of it until the butter separates. The buttermilk is then poured off for simple drinking or great cooking. It does raise the question – once we make buttermilk, what do we do with it beyond drinking it, making buttermilk biscuits or marinating chicken?
That tangy, buttermilk goodness is welcome in a lot of recipes. So after we make buttermilk we can rejoice then start cooking up a storm. One place that buttermilk shines is in soups, especially cold ones. The tanginess is great with many flavors, both sweet and savory. One soup that should not be overlooked is dessert soup. Most fruits will sing an even tastier song when paired with buttermilk. I especially like it with berries. Plus, a dessert soup is something that is just a bit different and can be a perfectly delicious and light ending to a meal.
Buttermilk is also a perfect base for vegetables. The tartness of buttermilk, when salted, brings out the very subtle flavors in vegetables while giving them a creamy base. Whether it be a fruit soup or a vegetable soup, a little extra butteriness and richness can be added by mixing in a little creme fraiche. Creme fraiche is sour cream’s fancier, tastier cousin that has more nuanced taste and, frankly, is hard not to eat right out of the container.
It might be a surprise, but buttermilk can play a major role in dessert, too – buttermilk pudding for example. A buttermilk pudding takes buttermilk to the next level by giving the flavors in buttermilk a rich body that brings buttermilk to life even more. When matched with fruit puree or fruit in syrup, the tanginess of buttermilk pudding is balanced nicely with sweetness.
So what do you make after you make buttermilk? Buttermilk and Blackberry Soup, Buttermilk and Salsa Soup and Buttermilk Pudding with Amorena Cherries.
- 1 lb of fresh or frozen blackberries plus a few extra for garnish
- 2 tbsp of sugar
- 8 oz of creme fraiche or sour cream
- 2 tsp of vanilla
- 4 tbsp of mild honey
- 4 cups of buttermilk
- Wash the blackberries.
- Sprinkle the sugar over the berries in a small bowl and let macerate for at least an hour or until the juices exude and form a syrup.
- Puree half of the macerated berries in a food processor. Pass the puree through a fine sieve placed over a bowl to remove the seeds.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the creme fraiche and berry puree.
- When the puree and creme fraiche are well mixed, whisk in the vanilla.
- Whisk in the honey. Then whisk in the buttermilk.
- Stir in the remaining blackberries.
- Place the soup in the refrigerator and cool completely.
- Adjust sweetness with extra honey if necessary.
- Serve cold, ladled into bowls with a few extra blackberries.
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 small sweet onion or 1/2 a medium onion
- 1/2 lb of tomatoes - any tasty type will do
- 1 ear of fresh corn - frozen will do in a pinch
- 1/2 of a cucumber
- 1 bunch of fresh cilantro
- 1 lime
- 1 avocado
- 8 oz of creme fraiche or sour cream
- 3 cups of buttermilk
- salt and pepper
- Peel and chop the garlic finely.
- Peel and dice the onion into small dice.
- Place the tomatoes into the bowl of a food processor and pulse the tomatoes into a very rough puree. The tomatoes can also be chopped by hand.
- Cut the cucumber half in half long ways. Cut the cucumber halves in half again (you now have cucumber quarters). Thinly slice the cucumber quarters.
- Cut the kernels from the ear of corn.
- Rough chop the cilantro.
- Cut the lime in half.
- Peel and dice the avocado into large chunks.
- Place the chopped garlic into a large bowl. Add the creme fraiche then whisk well.
- Slowly whisk the buttermilk into the creme fraiche until the mixture is perfectly smooth.
- Add the tomatoes and whisk until incorporated.
- Add the onion, cucumber, corn kernels, and cilantro.
- Squeeze in the juice of the lime to taste.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Let the soup cool completely in the refrigerator.
- Check and adjust the seasoning and ladle the soup into bowls. Add diced avocado. Serve cold.
- This soup is a nice appetizer or light meal.
- Serving the soup with slices of lime is also nice. The soup can be made spicy with the addition of sliced jalepeño or other spicy pepper.
- 1/4 cup of corn starch
- 3 eggs
- 2.5 cups of buttermilk
- 2/3 cups of sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 1 can of amorena cherries in syrup
- Separate the eggs into yolks and whites. Reserve the egg whites for another purpose.
- Place the eggs and corn starch in a pot or heat proof bowl that can act as the top of a double boiler.
- Whisk the eggs and starch together until a pale yellow paste is created.
- Whisk in the buttermilk until the egg mixture is fully incorporated and smooth making sure all the starch is dissolved.
- Whisk in the sugar and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
- Whisk in the vanilla.
- On the stove, create the double boiler by filling a pot with a few inches of water and bringing the water to a simmer. The pot should be big enough to hold the bowl or pan the buttermilk mixture was created in.
- When the water comes to a simmer, place the pot or heat proof bowl with the buttermilk mixture on top. Whisk the mixture continuously. The mixture will thicken as it gets hot. The mixture is done when it is very thick and can coat the back of a spoon (an instant read thermometer will read about 175-180 F). Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter. If you do not have a double boiler, the mixture can be heated in a pot until is just boils. Remove it from the heat when the first large bubble pops through the pudding then whisk in the butter.
- Pour the hot pudding through a sieve into a bowl to remove any lumps. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap making sure the plastic touches the pudding and fully covers it. This will prevent a skin from forming.
- Let the pudding cool completely and then chill it in the refrigerator.
- Serve the pudding in small bowls with amorena cherries spooned over the pudding.
- Amorena cherries can be purchased at Italian specialty stores or on line.
I Hope You Enjoy!
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What do you make after you make buttermilk? Let us know all about it in the comments or on Facebook.
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