Churn your own

The other day my friend Amy excitedly instant messaged me to tell me that she had the new issue of Saveur in her hands and it was entirely devoted to butter. We thought about making pound cake and other buttery things before deciding that making our own butter was a much better idea.

I thought we’d be braking out the kitchenaid but Amy said all we needed was a whisk. I had my doubts, but it you have a friend to hand the whisk off to when your arm gets tired you can do it. Your arm will get tired very fast.

Good cream makes for good butter. We used Ronnybrook, which has a nice grassy flavor.

Pour some cream into a big bowl.

Start whisking.

Keep going.

For a few minutes you’ll wonder if anything is happening. You’ll think its getting thicker but it may just be wishful thinking. Then all of a sudden you’ll have whipped cream. Keep going, and before you know it something will really happen. The butterfat will start sticking together in clumps, and the buttermilk will separate out.

Set a colander in a shallow bowl and line it with cheese cloth. Pour the whole thing into the colander.

Gather up the corners of the cheescloth and squeeze the butter into a ball. Wring out as much of the buttermilk as you can.

Save the buttermilk. Tomorrow you can make biscuits.

Now open up the cheese cloth and pour some cold water over the butter.

Knead the butter a little and let the water drain through.

Do this a couple more times until the water runs clear.

Now put the butter in a shallow bowl and spread it around. Stir it with a wooden spoon and make sure you’ve gotten all the water out. Now you can mix in some salt if you want.

Once the salt is mixed in scoop the butter on to a sheet of wax paper.

Fold the wax paper over the butter and shape it into a block.

mmm….buuuuutter.