Lemon Sour Cream Pie With Buttermilk Crust and Whipped Cream Cheese Topping
Local chef Fran Hill of the On My Plate blog is back with another delicious recipe. This lemon pie is a dairy trifecta: sour cream, buttermilk crust and whipped cream cheese topping. We talked with dairy farmer Annelies Seffrood to find out how our favorite dairy products make their way from the farm to our plates.
Annelies said quality dairy products start with happy, healthy animals. On her farm, NorSwiss Dairy, that starts with nutrition. It is so important that their nutritionist provides input on what crops to plant.
“On our farm, we grow the crops that go into our cows’ feed. We spend a lot of time each year planning which crops to plant, picking the best seed varieties and fertilizing the fields. We do everything we can now, so that when the crop is harvested and fed to our cows, they produce the best milk we can get. Our cows have a more balanced diet than most humans do.”
The cows at NorSwiss Dairy eat corn silage and alfalfa, which the Seffroods grow on their farm. It also includes canola meal, distiller’s grains and added minerals. Dairy cows also frequently have protein-packed soy feed in their diet. In fact, dairy cows in South Dakota eat 22,000 tons of soybean meal per year.
“The minerals are like a vitamin for the cows. They get their daily dose of vitamins and minerals that are carefully calculated so they get just the right amount they need.”
Once cows are milked on her farm, the milk is sent to Valley Queen Cheese Factory in Milbank, South Dakota, a factory that Annelies’ grandfather co-founded in 1929. Once there, the milk gets made into reduced fat American, cheddar and Colby style cheeses. So if you see reduced fat Kraft™ cheese in the grocery store that cheese was likely made with milk from NorSwiss Dairy cows. It just goes to show that the food at your grocery store can come from local farms – you just might not know it!
Cows like the ones from NorSwiss Dairy produced the butter, buttermilk, sour cream and cream that goes into the delicious lemon sour cream pie below from On My Plate. On My Plate features hundreds of recipes from local chef Fran Hill with “a little bit of life thrown in.” Explore her blog for new recipes. Search by course or ingredient to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Lemon Sour Cream Pie With Buttermilk Crust and Whipped Cream Cheese Topping
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a food processor fitted with a regular blade, pulse flour and butter in short bursts until ingredients are combined and resemble crumbly sand. With the motor running, pour in the buttermilk and process just until the dough starts to pull together into a ball. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and form a disc. Wrap the disc of dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Divide chilled dough into two portions. Reserve one portion for another use. This crust can also be blind baked and then frozen to be ready for a pudding pie. On a well-floured surface, roll the disc into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Transfer the dough to the pie plate, carefully pressing the dough to fit, trimming and crimping the edges of the crust. Prick the bottom of the crust randomly with a fork.
- Line the crust with a sheet of parchment paper or foil. Pour pie weights or dried beans onto the parchment and arrange to cover the entire bottom and up the edges of the pie crust. This will keep the dough from puffing and sagging while baking. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until the crust begins to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and carefully lift the parchment and pie weights from the crust; set aside to cool. Return pie crust to the oven to finish baking the bottom, approximately 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
- In a large saucepan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Gradually add milk and lemon juice, whisking until smooth. Place over medium-high heat and cook; continue to stir until thickened and bubbly. Reduce the heat to low; continue to stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat.
- Remove a 1/4 cup of hot mixture and place in a small bowl with lightly beaten yolks. Whisk together, then return egg mixture to the pot. Bring filling to a gentle boil and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter.
- Allow to cool without stirring at room temperature for about 45 minutes. Stir in sour cream and pour into the blind baked pie crust. Chill completely in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
- In a stand mixer, whip cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Stop the mixer and, using a spatula, scrape the bowl periodically. Gradually, add the heavy cream and vanilla and continue whipping. Again, periodically stopping the mixer and scraping the bowl to pull all the cream cheese into the heavy cream. Continue to whip at a high speed until all combined and light and fluffy. Spread whipped cream cheese topping over the chilled lemon filling. Garnish with thin lemon slices, if desired.
