I shall explain the simplest recipe ever, which is very useful for almost any other meal, because it is one of the most essential ingredients everywhere. Cakes would not be as fluffy, biscuits would not be as crumbly, pancakes would not be as nice, potato mash would not be as lovely, toast would not taste as good without... butter!! And when it is home-made it just makes it even better.
Since I've lived in Thailand I really missed bread and it still is a treat to me. And Lithuanian rye bread with butter is the loveliest treat in the world, and when the butter is home-made... You basically have to hide it from me. Well, to be honest, any bread type of thing with a bit of butter...
You have to start out with some double cream. The quantity should be according to a jar that you've got: just to have a bit of air in there.
I tried making it in a bowl with a mechanic whisk to start whipping it up quicker, but after a few times of comparing it to just shaking a jar, it's a lot quicker, easier and less washing up :]
So SHAKE the cream. I like to do it to the OutKast song Hey Ya (Shake it shake shake it shake it..) Haha!
Shake shake shake shake shake it, and then shake it again. Or give it to someone else to shake. It's actually really god exercise for a few minutes.
Have a quick check how it's getting on. Yayyy! It's starting to whip up! That's stage one: it becomes whipped cream.
Keep on shaking. Later on it thickens even further, something like this:
After some patient shaking it even longer it turns into... butter!! How easy was that?? And don't get scared of the white liquid around it: it's buttermilk.
Don't pour the buttermilk into the sink though!! You can use it up fo cupcakes, some cakes and other things. I usually just drink it.. It tastes just like milk, but it's really good for you, because its got lethicin in it. So pout it into another container.
You can't leave buttermilk in the butter because it will make it bitter. So now we need to wash it. Yes, wash the butter.
Pour some icy cold water into the jar and shake it again. Pour the white-ish water out and do that again. When the water comes out clear, stop.
And there you have it - your own home-made butter! Congratulations. Now put it in some comfortable-to-use container and enjoy it every day!
You can also salt it or make spiced butter. For example, put some salt, pepper and crusher rosemary in it and use it as a sauce for fish. Yum!
Yummy! Reminds me of my Mother shaking her 3 liters jar while watching TV:) It is indeed such a difference - the home made butter!
ReplyDeleteI have three kids coming over for a few days before the holidays; so I have lots of energy coming but short attention spans. How long did you have to shake the butter? And in America, our cream is ultra-pasteurized. Any idea if cream in England is the same?
ReplyDeleteOh wow!! That should be fun :] cream will always have some fat, some protein and some carbohydrates. Butter is mostly fat with a bit of the other two, and the buttermilk has got quite a bit of protein. I am not sure how do the physics work in this, but the fact is that shaking it just causes the fat to separate into the solid butter and into protein'y buttermilk. If you can find cream that's got most fat in it - you'll get a lot of butter :] Best, of course, would be one from a farm, but I think the one from a shop is as good as it gets, it's still a lot better than the butter with all the additives.
ReplyDeleteRegarding time, I think it should take about 5-10 minutes of non-stop vigorous shaking. I hope this helps, Donn! Thank you so much for your interest! And it's such a lovely idea to involve your kids in cooking! Good luck!