There is nothing like the taste of rich, creamy homemade butter. The best part, is that it is so incredibly easy to make! All it takes it some whipping cream, a dash of salt and some shaking. I’ve made butter for years, but recently found a way to make it even better by adding one simple ingredient: plain yogurt. I read an article telling me to add a spoonful of plain yogurt to my whipping cream and let the yogurt cultures incorporate into the cream. What a difference! It added just the slightest tang to the butter. It was so delicious! I spread some on a slice of fresh bread…Heaven!
It really is very easy to make butter. I use my food processor, but if you do not have one, you can simply use a mason jar and a lot of shaking. I start by pouring my heavy cream into a bowl and adding the spoonful of plain yogurt. Gently mix it in and let it sit for awhile. Hint: let it sit in the refrigerator, you want the cream to be cold when you mix it, so the fats stay solid. When I’m ready to begin, I pour the cream mixture into my food processor, and add some salt. Then I turn it on high and let it mix. It will go through a few stages. After a minute it will whip up like whipped cream, but just keep going. After a few more minutes, it will start to break down and separate into fats and liquid, or whey. Save the whey; that is some wonderful buttermilk!
Once it is completely separated, take a spatula and press the butter to the sides, squeezing the liquid out. Pour the liquid into a separate container. Continue to squeeze out as much liquid as you can, collecting the buttermilk. Set buttermilk aside, and save for later. Take the butter and place into a bowl of cold water. With clean hands, squish the butter in the cold water, getting all of the residual whey off of the butter. Discard water and repeat rinsing two more times. Once it is well rinsed, shape it and wrap it tightly, or store it in a sealed container. Refrigerate and use within a week.
This butter is so delicious that you will make it all the time! The yogurt adds a bit of tang along with the touch of salt to give this butter a little bit of something special. Spread a little (or a lot!) on some homemade sourdough bread and you have a real treat! You can even blend in honey, or your favorite herbs or spices to create delightful flavored butters. Get creative and enjoy!
Homemade Cultured Butter
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 pint Heavy cream
- 1 tbsp Plain yogurt
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Pour heavy cream into bowl.
- Using a fork, beat yogurt into cream.
- Cover bowl and let it rest in refrigerator 15 minutes or more.
- Pour cream mixture into food processor, add salt, and whip on high until it separates.
- Strain butter fats to the side of bowl, pouring off the liquid (whey) as you do. Save liquid for later; this is homemade buttermilk!
- Once you have all the liquid strained off, rinse off butter bowl of cold water, squeezing the butter in your hands to get it completely rinsed off. Discard water and repeat with cold, clean water 2 more times.
- Once butter is thoroughly rinsed, shape into log and wrap in wax paper or store in airtight container.
- Refrigerate and use within a week.
- Refrigerate the whey in a sealed jar and use in any recipe that calls for buttermilk.
