Make Butter?

So I have this very dear friend... and occasionally (in a way a loving friend would do, well at least WE do) she pokes fun at how ridiculously DIY I can be and the random things I make and bake from scratch.  You see, she is not a particularly crafty girl (self proclaimed, but you should see how she can put a room together) and often jokes, "why do I need to be crafty when I have you?"  lol.  And of course she knows I will, because we are friends and she is a wonderful and thoughtful person!

Recently, after such a conversation, she joked with a sarcastic voice, "why don't you make butter, Martha?"  My husband even got on board this time.  "Ha ha:..." I laughed in an equally sarcastic way.  But in my head I thought, why don't I make butter?  So my dear friend, this post is for you!  And so is this,   : p !!!

It was recently my birthday and I got an awesome present.  Something I've been eyeing for years.  A pretty, shiny, functional, time saving present of awesomeness!  An Artisan Kitchen Aid mixer in 'Pistachio'.  Yippee!!  That makes butter making a whole lot easier now doesn't it.  Actually, it's easy to make without a mixer too.  But I'm showing you this method because it's very hands off, which is great with a little monkey running around.

All you need is 35% heavy cream and a mixer or food processor.  Using anything with less fat content will not yield the results you want.  In a clean bowl, add your cream* and using a whisk attachment, start it up.  I ran mine at a lower speed of 3.  You will see it start to thicken after a few minutes.

Once it reaches the whipped cream stage, keep going.  After a few more minutes, it will start to separate and you'll hear it sloshing around.  Go and take a look... you now have butter!

Drain off the buttermilk (you can use this for other things).  I strained mine to be sure there were no lumps of butter in it and stuck it in the fridge.

Put the butter in cheesecloth or a thin, lint free kitchen towel and plunge it into an ice bath to rinse off the remaining buttermilk.  Squeeze the butter into a ball in the cloth to make sure the remaining liquid drains out.

Transfer it to a container to store in the refrigerator or, eat it right away!  If you like salted butter, you can pop it back in the mixer, sprinkle with a little salt and mix until incorporated.  I don't put salt in when it's in the mixer initially, as I use the buttermilk in baking and I prefer that to be unsalted.

So, not only do you get butter, you have buttermilk too.  If you like buttermilk as a drink, then have it along side a nice snack.  Or, put it in the fridge until you are ready to do some baking!

*I used 2 cups of 35% heavy cream, which yielded approximately 1 scant cup of butter.