Make Your Own Butter - No Churn Necessary
By Sarah Buhr
You don't need a butter churn, an expensive separator or your own cow to make your own fresh, delicious butter. In fact, it's so easy to make your own butter even a kindergartner can do this. All you need is store bought heavy whipping cream and a mason jar.
Instructions (long version):
1. Fill the jar 1/2 way with the heavy whipping cream (you don't have to have the cultured kind, just some whipping cream will do, the heavier the better)
2. Close the jar and shake, shake, shake it for about, oh, 15-20 minutes. Tada! Butter!
*Note: there may be a little liquid left after the butter has formed. That is okay. It's buttermilk. Save it in another container to use for buttermilk pancakes. Mmmm!
Instructions (short version):
1. Fill a mixing bowl with 2 cups heavy whipping cream.
2. Using an electric mixer or food processor (either one will do), gently mix and fluff the cream until it turns into a smooth butter.
*Note: After you've whipped the cream into butter it will be soft. Add a little salt for flavor or just leave it sweet and unsalted.You can also flavor the butter with rosemary, lavendar, lemon, garlic, etc. Just mix it in.
Shaping the butter:
When you put the soft butter into the fridge it will harden and stay the shape you left it in. In order to make your butter more presentable (for guests, the dinner table, or just because it is prettier this way) you may want to put it into a butter press (found at fine cooking stores). You could also put it into an ice tray, especially the kind with shapes if you want to have fun little pats of butter shaped into hearts or stars or something. The fine cooking stores will have other nice butter presses. My grandmother had one that shaped the butter into a maple leaf.
