A question about a recipe: Simple Summer Peach Cake

I have a question about the ingredient "buttermilk" on the recipe "Simple Summer Peach Cake" from Savour. What is the best sobstitution for buttermilk? In Italy we do not have it......

Lady Paula
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Simple Summer Peach Cake
Recipe question for: Simple Summer Peach Cake

14 Comments

mensaque
mensaque August 24, 2012
LOL!!! I'm afraid I don't have enough space for the cow,the bull and their calf...but I wouldn't need the bull if the cow didn't mind to do it by artifitial insemination!!!
 
Maedl
Maedl August 24, 2012
Oh, yes! Think of the possibilities of having your own cow! Except if you want milk, you have to buy a bull, too. And then hope the cow and bull figure out how to make a calf! Maybe goats would be easier!
 
mensaque
mensaque August 23, 2012
thanks,Maedl.I'm learning a lot with this one.Maybe I should just buy a cow...
 
Maedl
Maedl August 23, 2012
Different kinds of bacteria cause fermentation in buttermilk and yogurt--and I believe the bacteria that ferment Yakult are yet another variety. So all of these are fermented milk products but are produced by different organisms. Originally buttermilk was a by-product of churning butter, but now almost all of it is produced by fermentation. And it is not beige! Buttermilk is the same color as milk: white!
 
mensaque
mensaque August 22, 2012
I'm so glad you asked this question,Choppy.We don't have it in Brazil and everytime I bake a cake with a recipe that calls for buttermilk,I use heavy cream instead.It works...but now I'll try the lemon on milk sub.Just one thing:I've never been in the presence of buttermilk,but it seems to be creamy,not lumpy like sour milk,so I'm still not convinced...
 
BoulderGalinTokyo
BoulderGalinTokyo August 23, 2012
Mensaque, no buttermilk here either. But I was raised on it, so think of it as sour milk--even though the texture looks creamy it is much closer to yogurt or the lemon /milk trick which I usually use.
 
sfmiller
sfmiller August 23, 2012
Either the thinned yogurt or the milk+vinegar/lemon juice are good substitutes for baking purposes--although you wouldn't want to drink the milk+vinegar one.

Heavy cream doesn't provide the acid that buttermilk or those substitutes do, and therefore might throw off the leavening in a baking recipe. It also contains more fat than buttermilk, which might affect the result adversely too.
 
mensaque
mensaque August 23, 2012
Thanks for taking the time to convince me,BGTokyo and sfmiller.I'm afraid I was born a little stubborn...and sometimes it's quite a task to change my mind;but convinced I am.I used the heavy cream several times on a cake recipe by Martha Stwart and maybe it worked because the recipe is fail proof,who knows!Another thing:when you mencioned the leavening it rang a bell...In Brazil we have something called "Yakult",wich is a brand of leavened milk containing live lactobacillus.It comes in tiny bottles and you can drink it or add it to warm milk to make yogurt.Come to think of it,it has that beige color that buttermilk seems to have(at least on TV)and the same acid touch...Do you think I'm on to something here?
 
Sam1148
Sam1148 August 21, 2012
There's a powdered butter milk that might available there...or for ordering a SACO brand for import if legal for shipping.
But don't do what I did and forget to put it up in the freezer..that powdered stuff bricks up in the paper container stored on the shelf.
 
Maedl
Maedl August 21, 2012
Where are you in Italy? Do you have access to Spar, Lidl or Aldi's? I believe it is called latticelo in Italian. The substitutes mentioned above work fine, and many people use them rather than buying a container of buttermilk.
 
pierino
pierino August 21, 2012
Maedl is absolutely correct. Latticelo would be the Italian equivalent.
 
Lindsay-Jean H.
Lindsay-Jean H. August 20, 2012
For every 1 cup of buttermilk, you can substitute: 1 cup milk minus tablespoon (preferably whole milk) + 1 tablespoon white (or cider) vinegar or lemon juice. Let the mixture stand for 10-15 minutes before using in the recipe.
 

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ChefJune
ChefJune August 20, 2012
Fresh lemon juice added to milk is the easiest sub, but I was taught 2 tabelspoons lemon juice and then fill up the cup measure with milk. The acid will "sour" the milk and mimic the buttermilk in flavor and in performance.
 
Raquelita
Raquelita August 20, 2012
Yogurt, perhaps thinned with some water.
 
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