Homemade Cultured Butter

Cultured butter has a wonderful tangy flavour compared to regular sweet butter. It's the best butter for spreading on sourdough breads. Best of all did you know that you can make your own cultured butter in 5 minutes using one secret ingredient? This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader-yes, I really want you to try this gorgeous home made cultured butter!

Usually home made cultured butter is cream that is soured using yogurt. After being heated with the yogurt, it sits at room temperature for 48 hours or so and you whip it from there. If you've ever made yogurt from scratch it's a similar process. And there's nothing wrong with this at all, it's a great way to culture your butter. But this quick method uses an ingredient that takes just 5 minutes! I cannot stress how delicious this butter is. It makes me feel like I'm eating butter in a fancy restaurant.

The secret easy ingredient to quick cultured butter? A tub of sour cream! Regular or "sweet" butter is made using regular cream but sour cream has that wonderful light sourness and tang already in it.

Once you've made your own butter you'll realise how easy and delicious it is to make. I'm not saying that I make it for my cakes but if I have guests coming over for dinner, I'll make cultured butter because it's so soft and easily spreadable plus it tastes wonderful and is a bit special.

How much butter does a 300g or 10.6ozs of sour cream make? You'll get around 135g/4.8ozs of butter and 145g/5.1flozs. of buttermilk out of this. So you can see why butter can be expensive as there's so little that comes out of cream!

How long does this homemade cultured butter keep? This butter (provided you rinsed it well, see step 3 below) will keep for 3-4 weeks in the fridge. You can also freeze your cultured butter.

I have heard that a lot of people are making more from scratch and doing more bartering with wanting to stay away from the shops. I think I've always been into bartering especially because I have certain strengths but I also have certain weaknesses. I also like bartering because it is a fair exchange (I don't like people that just take without giving back).

For example this week I needed some sourdough discard for an upcoming recipe. Long time readers will know that I killed my sourdough starter a few months after I was kindly given him by Celia several years ago. If you know my track record with plants you'll know it's just a matter of time but it makes me feel like a bad mother so I have not taken on another starter since.

I put the call out on my facebook to see if anyone had some starter and Jaqi answered my call! So to say thank you I am making her some cultured butter. I know that she will like it because she makes her own sourdough and what goes better with bread than butter?

So tell me Dear Reader, have you been bartering? Have you always done so? Do you like cultured butter?

5 Minute Homemade Cultured Butter

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 0 minutes

• 300ml/10.6ozs. sour cream (full fat only)
• 1/4 teaspoon or 1.5grams fine salt

Step 1 - Place the sour cream in a mixer fitted with a balloon whisk. Cover with a teatowel as the buttermilk will separate and spit out. Whisk for 3-4 minutes until it separates (the higher the fat level, the faster it will separate).

Step 2 - Thermomix method: Insert the butterfly attachment. Add sour cream and mix for 3-4 minutes at speed 3.5. The sound will change and you can hear more liquid sloshing about inside as the buttermilk separates.

Step 3 - Place in a sieve sitting over a jug and scoop out the butter and drain the buttermilk from the butter. Keep the buttermilk in the jug as it is great in baking. Using only cold water rinse the butter under the tap pressing down gently on the butter with a spatula (do not use your hands as the heat will melt the butter) until the water runs clear. This rinsing process takes time and you can wash the butter anything from 6-8 times or more.

Step 4 - Mix with the salt and place on some parchment paper and shape and place in the fridge or enjoy straight away.