Out of buttermilk and just itching to make some biscuits or lemon cake? Make your own by mixing 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice with 1 cup of milk and letting it sit until it curdles, about 10 minutes.
Tips
Out of buttermilk and just itching to make some biscuits or lemon cake? Make your own by mixing 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice with 1 cup of milk and letting it sit until it curdles, about 10 minutes.
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I read on other websites that it takes 1 tablespoon of lemon juice/vinegar instead of 1 teaspoon. Argh I’m confused!
Yes, it should definitely be one tablespoon for each cup of milk….
Yes, apologies. Fixed now.
I assume this would be made with whole milk? Or does it matter?
It actually doesn’t. But whole milk buttermilk is actually best for baking.
Where I live buttermilk is as expensive as gold, really. So I will try using your little trick next time.Thanks! By the way in Germany this is called ‘Dickmilch’ (thick milk) Buttermilk is only what’s left of the milk after churning butter and I think it’s totally fat-free, but still very yummy.
Can buttermilk be achieved by adding extra butter to heavy cream?
@7: That is not what is meant by buttermilk. #6 describes quite well what buttermilk is. It is not milk with extra butter, it is soured milk.
What you’re making here is called acidified buttermilk, which differs from cultured buttermilk. The cultured kind, in my opinion, has a superior taste and is much more suited for baking.
Here’s a page detailing how to make your own culture buttermilk by using the active cultures present in the store bought stuff:
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/buttermilk.htm
You can also buy concentrated starters online, both liquid and dry.
BONUS: you can use the starter to make homemade sour cream (and mexican crema)
This may sound silly, but do you use the milk curdles and all?
Octel’s link is great!
Growing up in a household where my Mum used to churn butter from the cream layer atop fresh milk we bought at a local farmer’s, I always wondered why commercial “buttermilk” did not taste like butermilk at all..
Problem solved now!
Thanks.
Thank you so much! I’m been wanting to-well, actually, I haven’t thought much about it, but yes, merci beaucoup!
Will this method work with non dairy milk?
… and if you strain it, you have home made ricotta!! Yum!
am I crazy for wondering if can I just substitute plain yogurt for buttermilk? I figure they’re both cultured dairy, and I pretty much always have yogurt in my fridge, and I can never finish a carton of buttermilk without it going bad.
I use 2/3 cup plain yogurt and fill rest of cup with water. Stir like mad. Use it in baking all the time. Just old regular yogurt, not Greek.
I love your blog. I’ve gone down many a rabbit-hole after reading it. My latest? I bought a share in a herd of cows & get raw milk. I’ve been making fresh dairy, like creme fraiche, sour cream, butter, etc. I made cultured butter last week. OMG, yum. Now I have fresh buttermilk (described in post 6). Can I use this buttermilk in your recipes or do I need to (*gasp*) make my own buttermilk like you suggest here? It would be a shame to waste this stuff that came off the butter, but I’m not sure it’ll work. Does anyone know?
I’m curious, too, Mile High Jen, whether the actual true, buttermilk (of which a cup is sitting in my fridge after making my own butter) will work in this recipe which seems to call for something fattier?
Deb, you mention that ‘whole milk buttermilk’ is better for the cake, but that’s actually an oxymoron! So I have the same question as Jen–do I go to another recipe for using up my fresh buttermilk?
Thanks!
Thankyou! This easy recipie for buttermilk has saved me today (it’s blowing a gale & I’m keen to stay indoors!) I used lemon juice rather than vinegar – recently read that vinegar is not a good friend to our liver…
IF YOU CAN’T HAVE LEMON CAN YOU SUBSTITUTE ORANGE INSTEAD PLEASE LET ME KNOW THANK YOU SINCERELY DARLENE
Can i use cream cheese to make buttermilk?
1 cup like 237ml or 1 cup 16 tbsp?
I make my own butter from cream. I am left with buttermilk. Thin. Can I use this in recipes that call for buttermilk? Is there something I could do to make it thick like the store bought kind?
Terrie (#21) – this is TRUE buttermilk – the initial milk that comes from the cream when the cream is churned to make butter. Most other suggestions are simply “soured milk”. True buttermilk is used in cakes to give a softer cake. When I make my butter, I freeze the buttermilk if I am not going to use it within a few days. It will keep for several months when frozen. If you don’t have buttermilk, I find a better alternative is full cream milk diluted, about 1:1.
how long does is last for?
Use yogurt instead of milk and lemon juice or even use it instead of the buttermilk. Yogurt will have the same effect as buttermilk.
can this recipe for making buttermilk work using Soya Milk and lemon juice do you think? We dont do Cows milk for allergy and health reasons-probably a no- but I always live in hope, failing that, and living in France, where I have been unable to find buttermilk, is there a French equivalent does anyone know? I have also tried several of your recipes wih Greek style yoghurt and they seem good, but how would I actually know how much better they would be, made with actual buttermilk? So I am longing to try them out with the ganzer megillah,especialy the gorgeous Blueberry cake, to which I am now addicted….many thanks in advance
Deb’s version works GREAT with biscuits because the acid in the lemon juice or vinegar causes a reaction with the baking soda and baking powder. In my experience, you don’t even have to wait for curdling. Just add the lemon or vinegar and you’re ready to go! And the acid can be added to almond or soy milk, too.
Wondering if you can use this technique with goat’s milk, and use it before it turns into goat cheese?
Hi,
I have trouble finding the day’s post on Instagram. Is the only way to do a recipe search with the name? I would like it to come up as a picture more quickly
This is amazing!!! I’ve got to try this!! Thanks
This is fab! It’s hard getting buttermilk in the UK – I couldn’t find it anywhere in our local supermarkets. Now I can make my favorite recipes from home again! Thank you.
Thanks, admin. I will try this at my home with my mom for sure. People are very confused about the bank IFSC codes that’s why I developed this website with easy infrastructure. Click on the above link for more information. Thanks :)
This is amazing!!! I’ve got to try this!! Thanks