Kitchen Crafts 'n' More

Monday, November 12, 2012 Fun in the Kitchen - Make Your Own Butter

I'm afraid if you don't appreciate butter, that we must come from different planets. I love butter all melted and delicious on popcorn, or - nothing is quite so simple and good as pasta with some buttery garlic and shavings of parmesan cheese. Man, I just ate supper and already I'm making myself hungry again!!

But, did you know that making butter in your own kitchen is actually relatively simple? Here is the easiest way you'll ever find to make basic, delicious butter. (Warning: I did say easiest, but not in the physical sense! LOL This will take an awful lot of elbow grease, and you'll literally be shaking the butter into existence.)

You'll Need:

fresh whipping cream
a jar (as large as you like - you'll fill it about half full with cream)

Pour cream into the jar, about half full. Make sure to choose a jar that has a very tight fitting lid. Shake, shake, shake...and shake some more! Having a friend or family member on hand to help with this will make it easier - you can pass it back and forth between you when your arm muscles begin to ache.

When you see that the butter has formed, pour off the buttermilk - which can be used in any recipe, such as a delicious buttermilk pancake recipe. The rest of the glumpy mess is fresh butter! According to my research, if you knead the butter under cold water it removes the last remaining bits of buttermilk from the mixture, and creates butter that will last longer. You can also knead in a small amount of salt at this point if you prefer salted butter.

Otherwise - just pat your fresh butter into a round or square-ish shape and pop into the fridge. Enjoy your fresh butter. This is a fantastic and fun craft to try with kids!

Labels: easy recipes, fun in the kitchen, kitchen crafts, kitchen gifts, make your own, make your own butter