VelvetHomemade Butter
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats.
Fresh butter made from nothing but cream: whip it past the soft-peak stage until the butterfat clumps and the buttermilk splashes free, then wash, knead and shape it. A litre of cream gives about 340 g of sweet, pale butter plus a jug of real buttermilk.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Whip the cream past whipped. Pour the cream into the bowl of the stand mixer and drape the clean tea towel over the mixer to catch splashes. Whisk on medium-high: the cream goes through soft and stiff peaks, then turns grainy and pale yellow. Keep going until yellow clumps of butterfat come together and thin liquid sloshes around them, up to about 15 min in a stand mixer.
- 2
Drain the buttermilk. Pour everything into the sieve set over a bowl and let the buttermilk drain. Save the buttermilk in the jug for baking or drinking.
- 3
Wash the butter. Put the butter in the clean bowl, cover it with very cold water and knead it gently with your hands so it forms a single mass and the cloudy buttermilk washes out. Pour off the water and repeat 3-4 times, until the water stays clear; leftover buttermilk makes butter sour quickly.
- 4
Knead it dry. Knead the butter on a clean work surface, pressing out the last of the water and blotting it with clean towels until it no longer weeps. For salted butter, sprinkle over the salt and knead until evenly mixed.
- 5
Shape and chill. Press the butter into a compact log or block, wrap it tightly in baking paper and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Storage
Refrigerate wrapped tightly for up to 1 week (salted butter keeps a little longer), or freeze for up to 3 months and thaw in the fridge. Keep the buttermilk covered in the fridge and use within 5 days.
Free sugars
Free sugars: 0 g per serving
0 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 0 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g (WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549028
Equipment
- stand mixer with whisk attachment (or food processor, or large bowl and balloon whisk)
- clean tea towel
- fine sieve
- 2 large bowls
- jug
- clean tea towels or paper towels
- clean work surface
- baking paper
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 102 kcal |
| Protein | 0.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 0 g |
| of which sugars | 0 g |
| of which free sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 11.5 g |
| of which saturates | 7.2 g |
| Fibre | 0 g |
| Salt | 0.08 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
0.1 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
