Recipe: Compound Butters

Compound Butters

Circa: 2014

 With Thanksgiving approaching I thought I would share one more recipe with you before Thursday!  I love making compound butters for special dinners or  during the holidays. Not only are they delicious and add so much flavor to a dish but they are very simple to make! Today I am providing you with some of my favorite flavor combinations to share with your friends and family this holiday season.

 

When I became Education Coordinator at the museum one of the first things I learned to do was make homemade butter. During our busy season we can make up to six batches in one day! At the museum we use a wonderful vintage Daisy Churn similar to the one pictured in the ad below. While it still gets the job done after all these years it tends to take a lot of time and elbow grease. It's a wonderful teaching tool for our younger visitors and helps them appreciate how hard people had to work in the past even for simple things, however,  at home I like to take advantage of our modern technology and let my mixer do the hard work!  While you can certainly add any of these flavorful ingredients to pre-made butter, homemade butter is so easy to make and adds a delicious and special touch to your holiday meal.

 

 

How to Make Homemade Butter

 

To make homemade butter all you need is heavy whipping cream and a stand or hand held mixer. You will typically get half as much butter as the amount of cream used.

 

1.  Place the heavy whipping cream in a bowl and begin mixing on a low speed. You can increase to a medium speed as the cream begins to thicken. However, be careful not to increase the speed too soon or you will have cream flying everywhere! (I learned this the hard way)

 

2. The cream will transform into fluffy whipped cream; this is what I consider the half way point. Keep whipping the cream until it breaks down into soft cottage-cheese like curds.

 

3. The butter will then begin to stiffen as the butter fat separate s from the milk, clump together and turn yellow.

 

4. Once the butter separates turn off your mixer and pour off the milk. You can press the butter with a spatula to squeeze out any remaining milk.

 

5. As a bonus you can keep the buttermilk to drink!

 

It is that simple! I often get asked "How do you know when you have butter?" Trust me you will know by the consistency and color of the butter.  At this point in time I return the drained butter to my mixer and begin to add my ingredients. Rather than provide measurements for my butter combinations I have found that it is all about personal taste. For example, I love a lot of fresh basil with my lemon zest, however my husband prefers just a touch. Also if you are making small batches you may need a teaspoon of an ingredient rather than a tablespoon. I suggest adding a little bit at a time until you reach the perfect combination! For my savory butters I also added a touch a kosher salt.

 

I hope that these combinations inspire you to create your own delicious compound butters!

 

Here are my favorite combinations below!

 

 

I love the combination of lemon zest and fresh basil from my garden. They create a delicious and fresh flavor combination that works well on everything from a baguette to a roasted chicken!

 

 

 Roasted Garlic and Rosemary is my husband's favorite! I roast a head of garlic in the oven, extract the garlic and let it cool in a dish before I add it to my butter.

 

 

My favorite way to serve my cinnamon and honey butter is on my husband's homemade cornbread while it is still warm from the oven.  

 

 

Once you have created your compound butters I suggest rolling them in plastic wrap or parchment paper and placing them in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes to an hour before serving. They make a wonderful addition to any holiday table! 

 

 I hope that you have a very Happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends! Peace and Love always!