Making Butter

I just upgraded my old KitchenAid  mixer with this super-duper model.  I went to YouTube to get some ideas and came upon this video on making homemade butter.  I decided to give it a whirl and it turned out to be such a FUN experiment.  

First thing, I bought heavy whipping cream, and decided on all natural, organic cream.  I put 2 cups in my glass bowl with the normal beater attachment.

Next, I slowly started beating it, and increased the speed to the highest setting.  WARNING, (live and learn) put the splatter guard or a towel over the bowl to keep it from spraying the entire kitchen.  This is the stage where you can add salt, herbs, or garlic, or other spices for a variety of flavors.

The first stage of this process, the cream turns in to whipped cream texture.  This is where you would normally add sugar and vanilla to make a dessert.  Don't stop here though...

The next stage, after about 5 minutes, when the cream starts turning to a solid, all of a sudden a watery substance separates from the solids.  Guess what?  That is BUTTERMILK!  Stop the mixer and pour off this buttermilk, but don't discard, use it for another recipe.  I actually made mashed potatoes for a dinner party I was having and put it in the mashed potatoes. YUM.
After you drain the buttermilk, add some very cold ice water to the bowl and 'clean' the butter.  Spin it around a couple of times and pour off.  Repeat this process a couple or three times until the water is clear.

Final step: Scrape the butter off the paddle, and put butter in airtight container and store in fridge.  I can honestly say this is the best I have tasted and it is organic.  The whole process took about 15 minutes and was really fun.  

My friends were impressed when I served in on cute little butter pats I purchased off EBay.