cultured butter.
Like regular butter, but fermented. The bacterial cultures that this butter is exposed to provide a fuller, tangy and more complex flavour.
Ingredients:
1000g heavy cream.
125g plain, full-fat yogurt.
Equipment:
stand mixer.
cheese cloth.
bowl.
Yield:
~1lb cultured butter.
~2 cups, buttermilk.
Execution:
ferment.
Whisk together the heavy cream and yogurt in the bowl of a stand mixer, cover with a kitchen towel and let sit at room temperature for 24-72 hours, the longer you allow the mixture to ferment, the more sour it will become.
2. churn.
Put the bowl into the refrigerator for 1 hour before churning. The temperature of the cream should be around 55-65°F.
Attach the whisk attachment to the stand mixer and begin mixing on medium speed.
Once the cream has reached soft peaks, increase the speed to high until the cream hits medium peak.
Reduce the speed to medium and mix until the cream overwhips and splits. You will notice the buttermilk liquid separate from the actual chunks of yellow fat.
When this happens, reduce the speed to low and mix for another 3 minutes.
Strain the butter and buttermilk through a fine mesh sieve lined with a cheesecloth. Reserve the buttermilk and store in the fridge for 2 weeks or up to 3 months in the freezer
Add the butter to a bowl, fill the bowl with cold water and begin kneading the butter with your hands. Once the water becomes cloudy, drain and fill with cold water again. Repeat this step until the water is clear. Drain the water again and continue to knead the butter in the bowl to remove any excess moisture.
The best way to serve this butter: Slather onto a slice of freshly baked slice of sourdough bread with a sprinkle of Maldon salt.
3. storage.
The best way to store this butter is by forming it into a block onto a piece of parchment/wax paper, wrapping it completely and then storing in the fridge/freezer.
Store in the fridge for one week or in the freezer for 3 months.