Homemade Butter

自制牛油 

My late mother-in-law used to make her own butter at home. She would put whipping cream in a container and shake the container vigorously until the whipping cream breaks down into solid (butter!) and liquid (buttermilk!). I was prepared to do this for my soon-to-expire whipping cream, when I came across other methods using mixer, blender and even food processor. So, I set up my mixer and churned out 1.57kg of butter from 4 litres of whipping cream!

Ingredient

Whipping cream (1 litre makes 350g to 400g butter)

Method

1. Put the mixing bowl and balloon whisk in fridge.

2. Pour the whipping cream into the cold mixing bowl.

3. Whisk at low speed for 1 minute, then medium speed until the cream turns thick and fluffy. Use a spatula to scrap the sides of the mixing bowl to incorporate any splashed cream back. Change to low speed once the cream starts to break down and buttermilk released from the cream and starts splattering  the sides of the bowl. 

4. Drain the buttermilk, store in a clean airtight container and keep in fridge for use in other recipes.

5. Remove the butter fat from the whisk and wrap it in a cheese cloth (or any cloth filter). Submerge the cheesecloth in a bowl of ice water and gently squeeze/knead the butter to release remaining buttermilk. The cold water will turn cloudy. Discard the cloudy water and repeat the squeezing /kneading in a fresh bowl of ice water.

6. Remove the butter from the cheesecloth, shape into a rough ball and place it on a baking parchment paper. Wrap the butter and shape it into rectangular form. Freeze the butter immediately.