Powdered buttermilk (Recipe: apple spice bread)

First published in August 2006, this updated ingredient post features new photos, links, and tweaks to the recipe. I think I've made this apple spice bread more than any other quick bread, ever. My family loves it, so I try to keep one in the freezer at all times. (Doesn't everyone keep an emergency apple bread on hand?)

When most people think of Rhode Island, they think of Newport mansions. Jazz festivals. Clambakes on the beach. Rhode Island Red chickens. (Okay, not everyone thinks of chickens....)

Until I moved here, I was one of those people. If you'd told me I was moving to apple country — that, in fact, I'd be buying my Macouns at an orchard named Apple Land — I would have said "hah!". But here I am, smack dab in apple land, where I can buy Jonagolds and Cortlands, Mutsu and Macintosh, from August until March.

The thing about apple land is that it's miles from here to anything like a grocery store. So I always keep powdered buttermilk, an essential ingredient in my favorite apple spice bread and other baked goodies, in my pantry.

What is buttermilk? And what makes it cultured? 

First thing to know: real buttermilk contains no butter, and it's not so much milk as the liquid left behind after butter is churned. Commercial (cultured) buttermilk, however, is made by adding a lactic acid bacterial culture to skim milk, which is then left to ferment for 12-14 hours at approximately 69°F. The milk sours and thickens.

For some reason, cultured buttermilk is sold only in a quart size, which is fine if you're planning to drink it, but most recipes for baked goods call for much smaller quantities, and the opened quart container festers in the back of the fridge, turning into a science experiment. Using powdered buttermilk eliminates the "buy a quart, use a cup" dilemma.

Fresh buttermilk makes a great tenderizer for chicken and lamb; when baking, add powdered buttermilk to offset the chemical reaction of foods like blueberries that turn batters a dingy blue.

According to Irish folklore, drinking a glass of buttermilk will offset a hangover. Adding a clove of garlic to it will offset just about anything else that comes your way. 

Apple spice bread

From the pantry, you'll need: all-purpose unbleached flour, baking soda, kosher salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, whole wheat flour, vegetable shortening, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, powdered buttermilk (or fresh).

Ever so slightly adapted from the New York Times Bread & Soup Cookbook. Makes 1 loaf.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup grated tart apples (Granny Smith, Macoun, or a mix -- approx. 3 large apples)
1/2 cup buttermilk (made from powdered buttermilk, or fresh)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a loaf pan with baking spray.

Sift together first 6 ingredients. Stir in whole wheat flour. Set aside.

In a large bowl, or stand mixer, cream the shortening and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs, and stir to combine. Then, alternating a little bit at a time, add dry ingredients, buttermilk and apples to the egg mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour, until a skewer inserted into the thickest part comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and let cool to desired serving temperature.

Serve slightly warm with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, or serve cold. (Can be frozen.)

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More make-ahead cakes and quick breads:
Chocolate chip spice pound cake, from The Perfect Pantry
Yogurt coffee cake with pecan filling, from The Perfect Pantry
Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, from Brown Eyed Baker
Banana cinnamon bun coffee cake, from Baking Bites

First thing to know: real buttermilk contains no butter, and it's not so much milk as the liquid left behind after butter is churned. Commercial (cultured) buttermilk, however, is made by adding a lactic acid bacterial culture to skim milk, which is then left to ferment for 12-14 hours at approximately 69°F. The milk sours and thickens.

For some reason, cultured buttermilk is sold only in a quart size, which is fine if you're planning to drink it, but most recipes for baked goods call for much smaller quantities, and the opened quart container festers in the back of the fridge, turning into a science experiment. Using powdered buttermilk eliminates the "buy a quart, use a cup" dilemma.

Fresh buttermilk makes a great tenderizer for chicken and lamb; when baking, add powdered buttermilk to offset the chemical reaction of foods like blueberries that turn batters a dingy blue.

According to Irish folklore, drinking a glass of buttermilk will offset a hangover. Adding a clove of garlic to it will offset just about anything else that comes your way. 

Apple spice bread

From the pantry, you'll need: all-purpose unbleached flour, baking soda, kosher salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, whole wheat flour, vegetable shortening, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, powdered buttermilk (or fresh).

Ever so slightly adapted from the New York Times Bread & Soup Cookbook. Makes 1 loaf.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup grated tart apples (Granny Smith, Macoun, or a mix -- approx. 3 large apples)
1/2 cup buttermilk (made from powdered buttermilk, or fresh)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a loaf pan with baking spray.

Sift together first 6 ingredients. Stir in whole wheat flour. Set aside.

In a large bowl, or stand mixer, cream the shortening and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs, and stir to combine. Then, alternating a little bit at a time, add dry ingredients, buttermilk and apples to the egg mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour, until a skewer inserted into the thickest part comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and let cool to desired serving temperature.

Serve slightly warm with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, or serve cold. (Can be frozen.)

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More make-ahead cakes and quick breads:
Chocolate chip spice pound cake, from The Perfect Pantry
Yogurt coffee cake with pecan filling, from The Perfect Pantry
Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, from Brown Eyed Baker
Banana cinnamon bun coffee cake, from Baking Bites

Comments

Lydia, I've never tried dried buttermilk. When you reconstitute it, does it look and "feel" like cultured buttermilk? Wondering if it can be used in dressings like regular buttermilk.
PS Your apple spice bread sounds wonderful!

Jeanette, when reconstituted, powdered buttermilk does not have the same "mouth feel" as fresh buttermilk, but in baking, it's perfect. When I make buttermilk dressings, I use fresh -- although, occasionally, I'll add some buttermilk powder to a dressing just to perk it up a bit.

I have some of that buttermilk powder in my pantry, but I haven't used it in quick bread. What a great idea! And the bread sounds delicious!

Kalyn, buttermilk powder is great for baking. Do try it.