BUTTER AND BUTTERMILK

Butter and Buttermilk image

This recipe is adapted from Anne Mendelson, the author of "Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages." It's a bit of a project. There's a fair amount of stirring, processing, straining and separating. But the result is butter and buttermilk from your own kitchen, making this a fun recipe to make with children in advance of meals featuring their flavors.

Provided by Julia Moskin

Categories condiments, dips and spreads

Time 1h

Yield Roughly 2 cups buttermilk and 1/2 pound (1 cup) butter

Number Of Ingredients 2

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Ingredients

3 cups cream, light or heavy, but preferably a combination of the two (not ultrapasteurized -- and, if possible, not homogenized)
1/4 cup cultured buttermilk, with live cultures (check the carton)

Steps:

Stir together the cream and buttermilk in a bowl and let stand at room temperature to ripen until the mixture becomes thick and sour-smelling (16 to 24 hours). Cover tightly and refrigerate for several hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.
Place in refrigerator a food processor fitted with the steel blade, 2 metal mixing bowls and a wire-mesh strainer in the refrigerator. Have ready 2 to 3 cups of ice water. (Cold is your friend here, warmth the enemy.) Set up the food processor and add half the cream (or all of it, if you have a machine with at least 11-cup capacity). Leave the rest in the refrigerator. Begin processing and watch closely as the cream thickens and whips. (It will take longer with homogenized and/or ultrapasteurized cream.) Soon after this stage, within a few minutes or even seconds, the cream will start to look less white. As soon as you see it breaking into something slightly granular, stop the machine and take a look. Cautiously proceed until the cream is quite definitely separated into cloudy whitish buttermilk and clumps of ivory or yellow butter.
Set the strainer over a chilled bowl and dump in the contents of the processor, scraping out any clinging butter particles with a rubber spatula. Put the strainer and bowl in the refrigerator while you repeat the processing with the rest of the cream. Add the second batch of butter to what you have in the strainer. Measure the strained buttermilk, pour it into a storage container and chill in the refrigerator.
Turn out the butter into another bowl and add roughly as much ice water -- straining out the ice -- as you have buttermilk. Work the butter into a mass with a strong wooden spoon or spatula. Drain off as much liquid as you can and go on working the butter. You will see it becoming smoother and waxier under the spoon, as the butterfat comes together in a continuous mass. When no more liquid seems to be coming out, pat it dry with paper towels, pack it into a small container and promptly refrigerate it, tightly covered.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 249, UnsaturatedFat 9 grams, Carbohydrate 2 grams, Fat 26 grams, Protein 2 grams, SaturatedFat 16 grams, Sodium 39 milligrams, Sugar 2 grams

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Suhayb Moha14

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This butter is amazing! I can't believe how easy it was to make.

Md Sadikul

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This is a great recipe for beginners. It's easy to follow and the butter turns out great.

Bacon the Great

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I love the flavor of this butter. It's so much better than store-bought butter.

Khalak Islam

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This recipe is a great way to use up leftover buttermilk. The butter is delicious and it's a fun project to do with kids.

Sifran Jamal

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I've made this recipe several times and it always turns out perfectly. It's my go-to butter recipe now.

Mpaata Fredrick

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This is the best butter recipe I've ever tried. The butter is so creamy and flavorful.

Modhurima Deb

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I tried this recipe and the butter turned out great! I was surprised at how easy it was to make.

Dizzy Emi

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I love this recipe! It's so easy to make and the butter is delicious.

Iftikharkhan Khan

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This recipe is a bit more work than some other butter recipes, but it's worth it. The buttermilk gives the butter a really unique flavor.

Naomi Lane

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I've been making butter for years, but this is the first time I've used buttermilk. It made a huge difference! The butter was so creamy and flavorful.