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Dessert

Butter Making

Butter made by churning cream until fat separates, then washing and working into a firm mass.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Butter Making

Ingredients

Directions

Make the butter

  1. Fill a large glass bottle with cream.

  2. Beat the bottle on a roll of cloth until butter forms into flakes.

  3. Withdraw the buttermilk and replace it with cool water.

  4. Shake the bottle again until the butter forms a mass, changing the water two or three times.

  5. Remove the butter and place it in a basin.

  6. Work the butter with a flat stick until firm.

Shape and store

  1. Transfer the butter to a pot or plate and shape it as desired.

  2. If storing, add a little coarse sea salt.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Cream
Its fat globules clump together when agitated, forming butter and separating buttermilk.
Cool water
Rinsing the butter with cool water helps wash out remaining buttermilk and keeps the butter firm.

The step that matters

Changing the water while shaking. Buttermilk left in the butter can turn sour and shorten its keeping time. Rinsing with cool water and working the butter removes it, so the butter stays fresher and firmer.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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