I’ve been making butter from scratch since I was a knee sock-wearing girl scout. Not only is it tasty, it’s a really fun thing for kids to see and do. As an adult, I make butter at home a few times a year, mostly for holiday meals. Today, with imported and artisan butters available at local supermarkets, there are plenty of better alternatives to everyday butter. Though some of them are superb, nothing can replace the fresh flavor that comes with making your own.
As a country, we have become so far removed from how food is both grown and made. As adults I think we often forget that the connection we had to food as children is often very different from what many of today’s children experience. A local dairy farmer and artisan food maker, Patrick Lango of White Cow Dairy, is doing things the old-fashioned way. He often does butter making demonstrations here at local markets (and for The Buffalo News); he even orchestrated butter-making en masse for a throng of children at last year’s NYC Wine & Food Festival. It seems that making your own butter is pretty hot, especially for the 12-and-under set.
When trolling for restaurants that were making “unexpected” items from scratch, I remembered that Bistro Europa offers from-scratch butter along with housemade bread in its $3 bread basket offering. On a recent visit, our basket contained fresh rye and a Portuguese bread that was sweet and light. Both were enhanced by the accompanying handmade butter (which comes in a ramekin, the photo above depicts Europa’s butter in one pound portions).
The key to making the best butter at home is to use the freshest cream you can get your hands on. Unless you have a relationship with one of our area’s many dairy farmers, your best bet in the supermarket will be to purchase a local heavy cream. Look for a cream from Byrne Dairy or Upstate Farms. Avoid ultra pasteurized cream, it won’t give you the buttery results you are looking for. Another good tip is to leave the cream out on the counter until it reaches room temperature. This makes the actual butter-churning process much faster.
Earlier this week I spoke with Ellen Gedra, co-owner of Bistro Europa, about why the restaurant chooses to make butter from scratch. “We make pretty much everything from scratch,” she told me. “The butter is just an example, a simple way to show our customers that we like to take care of them, even in the little ways. Our bread basket is completely housemade, and when we begin offering Sunday brunch (as of April 4th), people can order the pastry plate and enjoy some of our breads, fresh butter and other sweet items like warm sticky buns.”
Making Your Own Butter
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Making butter is easy with a food processor, and it produces a light fresh taste.
You will need:
1-2 cups heavy whipping cream, or double cream
Fit food processor with plastic blade, whisk, or normal chopping blade. Fill food processor about 1/4 – 1/2 full. Blend. The cream will go through the following stages: Sloshy, frothy, soft whipped cream, firm whipped cream, coarse whipped cream. Then, suddenly, the cream will seize, its smooth shape will collapse, and the whirring will change to sloshing. The butter is now fine grained bits of butter in buttermilk, and a few seconds later, a glob of yellowish butter will separate from milky buttermilk. Drain the buttermilk.
You can eat the butter now — it has a light taste — though it will store better if you wash and work it. Add 1/2 cup of ice-cold water, and blend further. Discard wash water and repeat until the wash water is clear. Now, work butter to remove suspended water. Either place damp butter into a cool bowl and knead with a potato masher or two forks; or put in large covered jar, and shake or tumble. Continue working, pouring out the water occasionally, until most of the water is removed. The butter is now ready. Put butter in a butter crock, ramekins, or roll in waxy freezer paper.
Yield: About half as much butter as the amount of cream you started with.
A few suggestions:
- Salt to taste before working, a few pinches.
- Shake in a jar instead of a food processor. Shake about once a second. Add a marble to speed things up. This is fun with kids, but expect it to take between 5-30 minutes, depending on the shaking.
- Use some butter making tools, such as a churn, paddle for working, or molds for forming the finished butter.
Bistro Europa
484 Elmwood
Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14222
(716) 884-1100