Homemade Butter
Prep Time:
Cooking Time:
Serves: about 500g butter and 500ml buttermilk
Making your own homemade butter is simple and much quicker than you would imagine, plus you get a delicious result and can use the buttermilk in lots of recipes – from soda bread and scones to red velvet cake.
Ingredients
- 1 litre double cream, room temperature
- 1 tsp dairy salt (optional)
- greaseproof/waxed paper
- tin foil
Method
- If using, soak the butter bats in iced water for around 30 minutes ahead of using.
- Place the clean metal bowl of your stand mixer in the fridge or freezer. Once cool, pour the double cream into your cold, dry mixing bowl and whisk at a medium speed until thick. It will go through the thickening stages you’ll recognise if you have whipped cream in the past. Continue whipping until the cream collapses and separates. You will have both liquid (buttermilk) and solid (butter) in the bowl.
- Drain the buttermilk through a clean sieve or a cheesecloth into a bowl. There will be traces of buttermilk in your newly formed butter, so wash and dry your bowl and return the butter solids to whisk for another minute or so. Drain as before, then transfer the butter to a clean bowl and cover with very cold water. Use butter bats or clean hands to knead the butter and force out any remaining buttermilk. (If any buttermilk is left in the butter it will sour quickly and ruin your butter, so be thorough). Drain the butter and rinse with cold water until it runs clear.
- Separate the butter into two bars, then use the cold, dry bats or cold hands to pat them into the shape you want. Wrap, greaseproof/waxed paper, then in foil, and store in the coldest part of the fridge, away from strong odours. It should keep well, but if you are unsure and want to check its freshness, cut a small slice away from the edge of the butter. If the colour is different inside, it’s going off.
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