How do you make buttermilk at home?

Keeping a pantry stocked full of baking supplies ready for spur-of-the-moment baking is one thing, but if you’re like me, you probably don’t tend to keep buttermilk at home just in case you want to bake.

Call me stingy, but I also don’t really like paying for a whole carton of buttermilk when I only need a cup or so.

Yet so many cake recipes call for buttermilk, not to mention recipes for pancakes, pikelets and biscuits.

Thankfully you can make your own buttermilk at home from ingredients you probably already have on hand.

The most well-known buttermilk sub is probably the buttermilk vinegar substitution. But basically for any recipe that calls for buttermilk, you can use the equivalent amount of milk (skim milk if you prefer) where you have added an acidic souring agent like white vinegar or lemon. You can also make buttermilk with cream of tarter (see below for recipes).

Remember when you make these homemade buttermilk recipes, that the buttermilk won’t look very nice. By adding lemon juice or vinegar to milk you are curdling it. It will be slightly thick and have flecks of lumps, and you use all of it – lumps and all.  It’s precisely this chemical reaction that makes the milk curdle when you combine it with your dry ingredients that will make your cakes and pancakes tender, soft and fluffy. You won’t taste the sourness at all – it’s a bit like magic.

How do you make buttermilk?

Now that I’ve got you thinking about making pancakes or perhaps a lovely Buttermilk Chocolate Cake, exactly how do you make buttermilk at home, I hear you ask. Here is a list of common buttermilk substitute recipes.

How to make buttermilk with vinegar
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar

• Combine the milk and white vinegar in a cup or small bowl. Stir together to combine.
• Let the mixture stand for approx. 10 minutes (leave on your kitchen bench – do not refrigerate). The mixture is ready when the milk has thickened and has lumpy curdled bits through it.

How to make buttermilk with lemon juice
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice

• Combine the milk and lemon juicer in a cup or small bowl. Stir together to combine.
• Let the mixture stand for approx. 10 minutes (leave on your kitchen bench – do not refrigerate). The mixture is ready when the milk has thickened and has lumpy curdled bits through it.

How to make buttermilk with cream of tarter
1 cup of milk
1 3/4 teaspoons cream of tarter

• Mix milk and cream of tarter together.
• Let stand for 5-10 minutes (leave on your kitchen bench – do not refrigerate) until the mixture thickens and is slightly curdled.

Yoghurt Buttermilk Substitute
You can also substitute yogurt for buttermilk. You simply thin yoghurt with milk (you can also use water but I prefer milk). So if your recipe calls for 1 cup of buttermilk, add 1/4 cup of milk to 3/4 cup of yoghurt (total amount of liquid remains at 1 cup).

Sour Cream Buttermilk Substitute
As with the yoghurt sub above, thin 3/4 cup of sour cream with 1/4 cup of milk (you can also use water but I prefer milk) for each cup of buttermilk required.

Now you know all about how to make buttermilk at home, it’s time to put your homemade version to the test! Have a look at these lovely buttermilk cake recipes:

Lemon and Buttermilk Cake with Strawberry Pimms Compote

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

Blueberry Muffin Cake

Cherry Almond Cake

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

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