My dear Mom encouraged us as children to participate in cooking. Sometimes it was as simple as cleaning green beans or popping sweet peas out of their pods, whatever the task, it always resulted in increasing our comfort level in the kitchen for which, to this day I am truly grateful. One such exercise was to make whipped cream for a dessert topping. I must have been quite young because Mom set-up a workstation on the kitchen table so I could see inside the bowl of our olive green Iona Stand Mixer!
We poured the ice cold cream into an ice cold glass bowl and I started the mixer. I learned that starting the mixer on high only resulted in cream splashing all over my face! The bowl sat on some sort of ball-bearing Lazy Susan which you had to gently hold so the bowl wouldn’t spin out of control (I was in charge of that). As you undoubtedly already know, whipping cream to stiff peaks doesn’t take long, but I didn’t know that back then! Dear Mom was distracted and before I knew it, the cream began separate and turn to butter, the fat congealing and separating from the buttermilk. These types of “mistakes” never resulted in a scolding, they turned into lessons and this one became Butter Making 101! In those days we ate a lot of butter so Mom knew this lesson wouldn’t go to waste! Fortunately, dear Mom always had extra whipping cream in the refrigerator and so I learned to make two things that day: butter and whipping cream.This is a great exercise for children but be careful because today’s stand mixers can be very dangerous for small hands.
Homemade Butter
Ingredients:
- 1 L (8 cups) whipping cream (35% fat)
- Pinch of salt (optional)
- Cheese cloth and a fine sieve.
Directions:
- Place your stand mixer mixing bowl and whisk into the freezer for 10-15 minutes or until very cold.
- When bowl and whisk have chilled through, secure bowl to stand and add the cream. Slowly begin beating cream, adding a pinch of salt if desired.
- At about 10 minutes, the cream should begin to thicken and separate from the whey, once you have distinct separation stop beating. Voilà, you have made butter!
- Strain through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Reserve the buttermilk (I’ll use it to feed my sourdough starter), transfer butter to a resealable container and refrigerate. Or separate into smaller portion sizes and freeze. You will also need to squeeze excess buttermilk from the butter.
Notes:
- You can make butter from any amount of whipping cream, I just had 1 litre left over from a gig.
- I used my whisk attachment of my Kitchenaid stand mixer, but I’ve seen people do it in a blender too although I would find it too difficult to clean thoroughly.
- Flavour butter with fresh herbs to make a compound butter and freeze in small portions to flavour fish, poultry or meats.
- I chose not to salt my butter but you can add salt as you wish.
- Butter freezes very well. Portion into 1/4 (125 mL) or 1/2 cup (250 mL) portions.
Your butter looks wonderful Eva and learning from mistakes is the best way to learn! I’m making butter this afternoon but it’s quite a different flavour.
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Thank you kindly Lorraine, I look forward to reading about your butter soon! I’ve been a little behind in my blog visits, I sure hope you understand. XOXO
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When I was a kid we used to shake it in a bottle. It certainly tasted better than store bought butter. Like your mom I also keep heavy cream as a staple. One saves a lot of things with a bit of cream on hand ha.
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I’ve churned butter in a food processor. I’ll try this nest. The trick is getting good cultured cream. GREG
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Your beautiful mother sounds like the most wonderful person. How lovely that she didn’t rant and rave when you over-whipped the cream. And there’s no reason to as you can always make good use of homemade butter. I love how simple it is to make your own butter. Your old mixer has certainly stood the test of time xx
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I was just reading in Jacques Pepin’s newest cookbook how he makes butter in a blender. I could see where it would be harder to clean the blender than the mixer, but I’d probably go for speed. Freezing butter does work really well, as does grating the frozen butter directly into recipes or onto a dish. Thanks for reminding me to make my own butter (and buttermilk) next time I have leftover cream! 🙂
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Eva, so many of us have probably made butter by mistake… I also have similar cream whipping memories! Thank you for bringing them back and for reminding us butter making is not as difficult as some might think (and most of all that a mistake in the kitchen can result in something delicious and more than useful).
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Really like making my own butter. Best thing about it is the buttermilk — unbelievable flavor! Although the butter itself is awfully darn good! Fun post — thanks.
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Love the tutorial, Eva. How smart of your mother to teach you this basic recipe and to treat you to warm memories in the process. I made my first batch of butter some years ago. I was whipping cream, got distracted by heaven knows what, and I returned to my stand mixer to find a bowl of butter. Now I make butter whenever I’ve guests for dinner, though I have a hard time finding cream that isn’t ultra-pasteurized. I don’t care if the pint will last until June, I want the flavor of pure cream.
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I love making butter at home… trouble is, it never lasts long enough, we love th taste so much. Lovely post Eva.
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A lovely memory. I never had such kitchen experiences. My mom was usually cooking when we were at school during week days or asleep on the weekends and I really wasn’t interested in cooking until my 20s or so barring the rare dessert attempt. I made great rice krispie squares and no-bake cheesecakes for my dad. 🙂
I seem to recall making butter … once. I tossed the butter’milk’ though I had thought it would turn out like the stuff you buy in a carton and could be drunk.
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Yeah, I’ve made butter by accident even as an adult 😉 Such sweet memories of your mom.
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It must be extremely fresh and delicious!
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