Homemade Butter from Sweet Cream

Ingredients:

• Sweet cream (at least 36% milk fat) – e.g. 500 ml or 750 ml

• Ice water (for washing the butter)

• Pinch of salt (optional, for salted butter)

Procedure:

Pour the sweet cream into the bowl and start whipping it with an electric mixer.

– The cream will first become whipped cream (like for desserts).

– Continue whipping. The whipped cream will start to fall, collapse and take on a yellowish hue.

– Whip until the mixture separates into hard yellowish butter grains (fat) and liquid (buttermilk). The buttermilk will stick to the beaters, but the buttermilk will remain at the bottom of the bowl.

Draining the buttermilk: Pour the buttermilk and buttermilk into a colander and drain the buttermilk and set aside. Buttermilk makes a great sour drink or bread-making additive.

Transfer the butter to a clean bowl and pour ice cold water over it. Using a spatula, a wooden spoon, or clean hands, knead and turn the butter to squeeze out any remaining buttermilk. The water will become cloudy. Discard the cloudy water. Repeat the washing process with new ice water (usually 3 to 4 times) until the water that is drained is completely clear. This is a key step in extending the shelf life of the butter.

Squeeze the washed butter well to remove as much water as possible. If you want salted butter (so-called tea butter), add a pinch of salt and knead it in.

Shape the butter into a ball, a loaf, or place it in a butter dish. Store homemade butter in the refrigerator.

Since it is not as durable as store-bought butter, use it within about one to three weeks.

Tips:

• Cream temperature: Some recommend whipping cream that has been at room temperature for an hour (about 10-14 °C), as fat droplets in warm cream stick together more easily. However, it is crucial that the water used for washing is ice cold.

• Speeding up the process (sour butter): You can also make butter from sour cream, or you can first acidify sweet cream (e.g. by adding probiotic yogurt and letting it stand for 24-48 hours). Butter made from sour cream is more aromatic and has a longer shelf life.

• Butter with additives: You can spice up basic butter with additives: herbs (parsley, chives, rosemary), garlic, sea salt, or lemon zest. Mix these additives into the butter at the end of the process, before cooling it.

 

 

 

❤️❤️❤️