Buttermilk Pie

Name: Buttermilk Pie
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: Plain flour; Whole milk yoghurt; Vegetable oil; Caster sugar; 5 medium eggs; Whey protein powder; For filling - ideally buttermilk; Vanilla extract; Salt

286 kcal a serving, against 556 for the traditional version. That is 270 kcal off, or 49%, with 11.6g of protein. Serves 8. .

What the traditional version is

This is the kind of pie you make for a reunion, not a Tuesday. The base is shortcrust pastry from 250g plain flour and 125g butter. For the filling: 225g caster sugar, 125g melted butter, 4 whole eggs, 350g buttermilk, a splash of vanilla, and 100g double cream. Bake it until it just sets to a wobble.

What changed, and what each change costs

Butter in pastry and filling to half-fat yoghurt and a splash of oil

Butter gives you that rich base and mouthfeel in the custard. Swapping it for yoghurt gives you the tang and some protein, with only a little fat for structure from a splash of vegetable oil.

What it costs you. Shortcrust isn't the same: it's a bit more cardboard than biscuit, and the filling misses that 'set and melt' texture. The custard will never be as lush, but you do get a little tang and it holds a slice.

Caster sugar cut by half

You still need enough sugar to keep the eggs from setting into a frittata. Dropping it to 110g isn't exactly hair-shirt, but the pie is much less sweet than you expect.

What it costs you. It's less pudding, more breakfast. Eat it cold and your teeth won't tingle.

Whole eggs up, double cream out, plus a little whey protein

Double cream makes a custard rich, but if you add another egg and a gentle scoop of whey powder you get more body and much more protein. Don't go wild: too much and the filling goes rubbery.

What it costs you. If anyone says they love this more than the original, they're lying or they've just finished a half-marathon. Still, it cuts clean and you get more than a breath of the real thing.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Plain flour
Whole milk yoghurt
Vegetable oil
Caster sugar
5 medium eggs
Whey protein powder
For filling - ideally buttermilk
Vanilla extract
Salt

How it starts

For the base, rub the flour and salt together with the yoghurt (100g) and oil until it looks like rough sand.
Roll the pastry out to fit a 23cm pie tin, press in gently and trim the edges.
For the filling: whisk the eggs, caster sugar and vanilla until the sugar dissolves.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Southern.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	556	286
Protein	8.7g	11.6g
Fat	34.1g	8.3g
Saturated fat	20.5g	2.6g
Carbohydrate	54.7g	40.5g
Protein per 100 kcal	1.6g	4g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Southern prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. gluten, eggs, milk.

The method is in the book

The original is pure decadence: soft, tangy, sweet, and soaked in butterfat. This one is only two of those four. It scrubs up well enough, but it isn't a pudding for showing off. You get a slice you can pick up, you get a bit of tang, and you get plenty of protein. The price is paid in mouthfeel - the original is creamy, this is just set. If you can't face a full-fat pie, this is a fair nod to the spirit, but no one ever lied to themselves with a spoonful of this and believed it.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Southern, along with 50 more. Buy the paperback