If you really want to make every little part of your Thanksgiving meal special, then it is worth the minimal effort to make your own butter to serve with all the fantastic cornmeal biscuits and rolls that you’ll be making. As an added bonus, you’ll also end up with about 2 ½ cups of homemade buttermilk to use in your biscuit recipe. I can’t say enough how easy this was, and the result is spectacular. The flavor of the butter has a more complex taste than American store-bought butter. Plus, it is just really fun to say you made your own butter.
Homemade Cultured Butter
Credit: Avec Eric by Eric Ripert
Makes about 1 pound
Ingredients:
1 quart heavy cream, chilled
1 cup crème fraiche (If you haven’t purchased this before, it can usually be found near the imported cheeses in the deli department of your grocery store.)
1 gallon ice water
Directions:
~Stir the cold cream and crème fraiche together in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Using the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream mixture on medium speed for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the fat separates from the liquid (mine took 28 minutes), making sure to cover the mixer and bowl with a towel or piece of plastic wrap.
~Drain the butter through a fine-mesh sieve (reserving the buttermilk for later use) and rinse the butter in the ice water. Place the fresh butter on a clean damp towel and knead on a cold surface to remove the rest of the moisture. Wrap the butter well and refrigerate. For best flavor, allow the butter to warm up to room temperature before serving.
Patty Nguyen
Ooh, I want to try this! I just wish work would stop getting in the way of all the fun recipes I have in my queue. ;)
mandyjoy
Work always gets in the way! It's so annoying. :) Hopefully you get the time soon to try everything you want to. My list is getting very long too!
Patty Nguyen
Thanks, Mandy! Same to you! :)
revolutionarypie
Funny, I wrote about butter recently but not the cultured variety. I was also wrapping my stand mixer in plastic wrap, though!
mandyjoy
I can only imagine the mess one could make without plastic wrap! Homemade butter is amazing, cultured or not. i do really like the flavor of the cultured, it tasted more like European butter than what we have in the U.S.usually. All butter is good in my book though!