Chess Pie Finds Its Sweet Spot With This Liquid For A Tangy Twist

Chess pie is a classic choice if you want a seriously delicious play of textures and flavors all in one dish. While chess pie, comprised of buttery pie crust baked to perfection with creamy custard filling, has roots in England, it eventually became popular in the US, especially in southern kitchens and on holidays like Thanksgiving. Besides its signature creamy texture and sweet taste, the pie comes together with a relatively simple recipe made with a handful of staple kitchen ingredients, including sugar, flour, eggs, liquid dairy, melted butter, and vanilla. Even so, home cooks do have their preferences for making the classic dessert. Perhaps most common is giving the treat a tangy twist with one powerhouse ingredient: buttermilk.

Buttermilk is a rich and tangy cultured dairy product, traditionally made from the leftover liquid from the butter churning process. When used in chess pie, the acid in the buttermilk (or via the addition of milk or evaporated milk and vinegar in some recipes) helps the eggy custard form and set, becoming creamy while also balancing the sweetness in the pie filling. The extra acidity from the buttermilk, while genius, is not exactly a secret among chefs. On the contrary, it's so good that a whole class of chess pies is called "buttermilk pie," emphasizing the delicious potential of the ingredient in the dessert.

If you have a classic chess pie recipe on hand, it's easy to modify the recipe with buttermilk or other flavorful takes. All you need to do is swap the evaporated or regular milk in the recipe with buttermilk, which can be found in the dairy aisle of most supermarkets or online. If your recipe includes milk and a touch of vinegar, you can also leave out the vinegar since buttermilk will provide all the tang and richness your pie custard needs. Alternatively, if you don't have the tangy mixture and want to give your recipe some extra zest, you can make a 2-ingredient buttermilk replacement by mixing regular milk and vinegar or lemon juice.

When combined with classic custard base ingredients, including a generous amount of whole eggs (usually four or five), a couple tablespoons of cornmeal or flour, and sugar, the acidic flavor of buttermilk will amplify and uplift most chess pie recipes and variations, from chocolate chess pie to honey chess pie to blackberry-buttermilk pie. Before filling your pie crust with the sweet, ever-so-subtly tart filling, just make sure to par-bake your pie so it doesn't get too brown as the liquid custard filling cooks. When you remove the pie from the oven, it will appear a bit wet and puffed. Just let it sit and set, then dig in once it's cooled to enjoy this quintessential dessert.