French Butter
Goodbye store-bought. Hello French artisanal.
If you thought butter was just butter, think again. French artisanal butter is tangy, complex, a little bit nutty, and infinitely creamier. It’s also incredibly addictive so consider your tastebuds warned.
There’s also more than one reason to love this recipe: you only need three ingredients, you can salt (and herb!) the butter in endless combinations to your taste, and you get the added bonus of rich buttermilk perfect for pancakes, biscuits, and even marinades. How many recipes can do that? —CFG
Ingredients
(Recipe makes ~1lb of butter)
1 litre whipping cream
3tbsp high milk fat (MF%) content plain yogurt
Flaked sea salt
Dried herbs (optional)
Directions
In a medium size mixing bowl add 1 litre of whipping cream and 3tbsp of high milk fat plain yogurt. Gently whisk until both ingredients are fully incorporated.
Cover with a sack cloth/cheesecloth or clean tea towel and set aside.
Leave at room temperature for ~48hrs. The cream will ferment and thicken to a sour cream-like consistency and start to smell tangy.
Chill the cultured cream for ~1hr. (You can skip this step, but cold cream separates faster and cleaner in the next step.)
Transfer the cream into a stand mixer and attach the whisk attachment. Have a sack cloth or light tea towel ready to loosely rest over the mixer to prevent splashing.
Begin whipping the cream on a medium speed then gradually increase to medium-high. The cream will move from soft peaks to stiff peaks, then look like grainy cream.
Cover the mixer with your cloth when it starts to look grainy as the fat will separate quite suddenly from the liquid.
Once the butter clumps together around the whisk and separates from the buttermilk, turn off the mixer. Drain the butter through a fine-mesh strainer placed over a bowl. You can use your hands or a spatula to push out the excess liquid through the strainer. Set aside the buttermilk in a container and refrigerate. (Good for ~3 days.)
Fill a medium sized bowl with ice water and place the butter into the bowl. Next, squeeze the butter repeatedly. Replace the ice water 3-4 times and continue kneading and squeezing the butter until the water runs clear. (This removes residual milk solids and prevents it from spoiling.)
Leave the butter in the ice water and prepare a dry surface or cutting board. (I like to lay out a large piece of parchment paper.)
Transfer the butter to the dry surface and blot dry with a paper towel.
Sprinkle a large pinch of flaked sea salt over the butter, then gently fold and knead so the salt gets evenly distributed. (I prefer Maldon Sea Salt or herbed sea salt from dried herbs from my garden.)
Taste the butter then add a small pinch at a time to suit your taste and repeat folding and kneading as needed.
Shape the butter into your desired shape, then wrap in parchment paper.
Store at room temperature for up to one week -OR- refrigerate for up to 4 weeks -OR- freeze for up to 6 months.
Serve and enjoy!
