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28 sweet and savoury dishes using buttermilk

Rich, creamy, and slightly sour buttermilk is a versatile ingredient that lends a delicious texture and flavour to anything it's added to - from fluffy pancakes to crispy fried chicken and more.
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buttermilk recipes

What is buttermilk?

Essentially, buttermilk refers to the liquid left behind after milk has been churned into butter. Since much of the fat from the milk becomes butter, the remaining buttermilk is generally low in fat but still tastes deliciously rich and creamy. It also has a slightly sour taste, which lends buttermilk to be worked into both sweet and savoury recipes. In baking buttermilk helps create a light, moist texture.

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How to make buttermilk

While buttermilk is readily available at most supermarkets, it is possible to make buttermilk, or buttermilk alternatives, at home.

Perhaps the easiest way to create a buttermilk substitute is to stir two tablespoons of lemon juice into 1 cup of milk and place it in the fridge. After about 10 minutes the mixture will have curdled slightly, and is ready to use.

If you have a bit more time you can make buttermilk easily at home with pouring cream and elbow grease. Simply beat cream in a bowl until the mixture thickens and then splits into butter and buttermilk. Strain the mixture into a glass bowl through a fine sieve lined with muslin. Gather the butter in the muslin and squeeze to release all the moisture. Press the solid butter into a container for later use. Refrigerate the buttermilk in a glass bottle or jug until ready for use.

How to cook with buttermilk

This versatile ingredient is welcome in so many dishes! Add buttermilk to cakes, pancakes and muffins for a fluffy, moist texture. Marinate chicken pieces in buttermilk for a tender, tasty meat. Buttermilk also goes great in salad dressings, where its creamy texture and slightly sour flavour really stand out.

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Looking for more buttermilk pancake recipes?

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Buttermilk panna cotta with summer fruits
Quick & Easy
March 30, 2015

Buttermilk panna cotta with summer fruits

Not suitable to freeze or microwave. Agave is made from the Agave plant’s root bulb. While it is a low GI sweetener it should only be used in small amounts as it does have a high fructose content. It comes in a dark or light syrup and is available from most health food stores. Note
By Women's Weekly Food
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Women's Weekly Food

Trusted by home cooks for 90 years, The Australian Women’s Weekly’s Test Kitchen and cookbooks hold a singular place in shaping home cooking within the Australian culinary landscape. Today, the AWW Test Kitchen in Sydney is a thriving hub for food content, connected to two bustling photographic studios where a talented team of Australia’s best recipe developers, art directors, editors and photographers create our world class food content. Our recipes are thoroughly tested and tasted and given the Test Kitchen tick of approval, guaranteeing you’ll get great results in your home kitchen.

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