The long-lost art of butter making

This is the first article of a series on making basic food ingredients that we seem to have collectively forgotten how to make. Only two generations ago, butter making was a common task, and I argue it is something we should try to reclaim from the past.

You will need a 500 mL  (two cups) carton of whipping cream (35%), and either arm power and a whip, a blender, or a hand blender. Pour the cream in a large bowl (or in the blender), and whip it until it turns into butter. Seriously. Using a hand held blender, this takes about five minutes. The cream will first turn into whipped cream, then start looking more chunky and yellow, then, all of a sudden, will expel the buttermilk, leaving behind the butter.

I find that what works best is to get the cream right up to the “almost butter” stage, and then finish by hand. This way, when the buttermilk is expelled, the butter bunches together inside the whip and is easy to separate.

The last step is to rinse and salt the fresh butter. Take the butter and squeeze it into a ball using your clean hands. Then, keep manipulating it under cold tap water until no more buttermilk comes out. If you put a bowl under where the water is falling, you can stop rinsing when that water becomes clear. Then, add a little bit of salt (to your taste) and kneed it into the butter. Store either in a butter crock (known as a “beurrier breton” in french) or in the refrigerator. It also freezes well.

Is it worth the effort? Nothing beats a slice of home-made bread with fresh butter. The added bonus is that along with your 1 cup of butter, you get 1 cup of delicious fresh buttermilk that you can use for pancakes, cookies, cakes, scones… However, in terms of price, it is still more economical to buy a pound of butter, though I can’t figure out why.

• “Think ingredients…”
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