Cultured Butter

I've been making my own butter for a couple of months now.  It's cheaper and I know for a fact there's not margarine or color added to it, which is a big bonus.

About a week ago I decided to try my hand at making Cultured Butter and I'm pretty sure I'll never go back. Seriously, I could get fat off of this stuff!  It's pretty easy to do, all you need is time.

I make a pretty big batch at a time, but you can definitely cut the recipe in half.

1 litre heavy cream (35% whipping cream) 

6 tbsp plain yoghurt

1 tsp salt (optional)

Pour your heavy cream into a bowl and add 6 tbsp of yogurt. Mix well.  Put a lid on it, or cover it with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot for 12 hours.  I usually start it just before I go to bed and finish it up in the morning.

12 hours later it doesn't really look any different but it smells a lot like yoghurt!

Pour the cultured cream into a stand mixer, and mix with a beater on med-high until you get thick cream.

Once the cream is really thick, switch to your paddle attachment.

At this point it's a really good idea to wrap plastic wrap all the way around your bowl and arm of the stand mixture.  When the butter and milk start to separate it will really splash and slosh around.

I find that this whole process takes less than 5 minutes but it really varies on how fast you are beating the cream. When you notice that the milk and butter have totally separated, the milk will be slopping around and splashing a lot, then you're ready to stop the mixer and strain the butter.

milk and butter separated

Scoop out all the butter and strain it.

Now you're going to wash the butter.  Put it in a bowl and pour some cold water over it.  Drain the water and repeat until the water runs clean.

Put your butter on a non stick surface or some sort and knead it until you get all the liquid out.

Add 1 tsp of salt and knead it in until it's well combined.  You can do more or less salt, or none at all depending on your taste.

 Put your butter into a glass or plastic container and store it in the fridge, a butter crock, or freeze it.  Save the milk for baking or pancakes or whatever!  It's not true buttermilk but it works great as a substitute and because it's been cultured it actually tastes a bit similar.

And there you have it! Cultured Butter and "Buttermilk" for less than the price of just store bought butter!