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Did you know you could make butter at home? And did you know it only takes one ingredient to make butter? How about the fact that it only takes a few short minutes and you could have freshly made butter on the table every morning without breaking a sweat if you wanted? Well guess what? You can. It does. And you could if you really wanted to.
I remember the first time I learned how to make butter. It was one late fall afternoon and I was watching Martha Stewart Living and she had a guest on who taught us how to make butter. It happened so fast that I almost completely missed it. I had to rewind (thank goodness for DVR) and watch over again. I didn’t even believe what I saw was true, so I decided to do it myself.
The rumors are true. If you work heavy cream long enough, it will turn to butter, and you don’t even break a sweat doing it. Even if you are making butter by hand. Homemade butter has such a wonderful fresh flavor, and you can customize it while you make it for any occasion. I love making a variety of flavors and place them all on the table for everyone to taste and enjoy. You can go sweet with cinnamon, brown sugar, or honey. If you want to go savory, you can use basil, dill, or chives. Really anything you can think of in any combination. The skies the limit.
Normally I only buy unsalted butter because I need it for baking, but with a sweet homemade butter, I like to have it as the star and there is nothing better than adding a bit of salt to both sweet and savory butter add-ons to really bring out those flavors in your fresh butter.
To make the butter, all you have to do is keep on whipping. Keep on whipping. Whipping, whipping, whipping. Once it is nearly there, I like to add in my flavor choices, then continue to churn until it becomes butter. The liquid that separates out is perfect for using in waffles and muffins or even to marinade chicken, so reserve it if you can! In the pictures, I made regular salted butter, cinnamon honey, and jalapeno honey butter (we just finished watching Shrek 2).
INGREDIENTS
- Heavy Cream
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS
- Cinnamon
- Honey
- Salt
- Jalapenos
- Brown sugar
DIRECTIONS – MASON JAR METHOD
- Fill your mason jar halfway and close the jar tightly.
- Shake the mason jar for about five minutes. The jar should then feel heavy. If you open the jar, you will see the cream was whipped.
- Add in any mix-ins you choose.
- Close the jar lid tightly and shake for another two – three minutes, or until you hear liquid sloshing inside again.
- Strain out the butter – it should be mostly in one solid chunk. Reserve the liquid to bake with in place of milk or buttermilk.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
DIRECTIONS – STAND MIXER METHOD
- Pour the heavy cream in the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Turn on the mixer on medium until soft peaks form. Turn up the speed to high and mix until it begins to thicken and slightly separate.
- Add in any mix-ins you choose.
- Turn the mixer back on to high until the mixture separates and there is a light liquid in the mixer. Turn down the mixer to low. This will help the whisk to gather up most of the butter.
- Push the butter through the whisk and strain out any remaining butter in the mixer. Reserve the liquid to bake with later.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
