european-style cultured butter

Having read about the more complex flavor and health benefits of cultured butter, I decided to look into making some for myself. Researching the subject sent me in two directions. Most authentic: purchase live and active cultures (bacteria) and add it to fresh cream. Allow to "culture" and churn into butter.

Easier option in my town: add a small container of yogurt containing "live and active cultures" to cream and allow to culture. I found Erivan brand to be exceedingly tangy and claiming to have excessive live and active acidophilus bacteria. It seemed to do the trick.

I took a quart of pasteurized organic heavy cream and mixed it with an 8 ounce container of yogurt in a large, sterilized (by boiling water) glass bowl. I left it in my microwave (covered in plastic wrap) for almost 12 hours before refrigerating it. It was noticeably thicker.

After it had chilled for the better part of a work day (about 8 hours) I whipped it in my KitchenAid stand mixer with the paddle attachment. It quickly turned into soft whipped cream. I continued to whip it until it reached the stiff cream stage. At this point, I mistakenly thought I had made butter, as it was so thick. However, I turned away from the mixer for a second, only to be surprised to find chunks of yellow fat floating in milk when I looked back. That was butter!

I clumped it all together and kneaded it over clean paper towels until all of the liquid had been squeezed out. I then fit as much of it as I could into a 2 cup mason jar and sealed it. I ate the remainder with some sourdough bread. 4 cups of cream (plus the cup of yogurt) managed to make almost 3 cups of butter.

If you like salted butter, I don't know what to tell you -- I think that commercial butter has something like 1/4 teaspoon per stick, so this batch would require 1 1/2 teaspoons of table salt. Your guess is as good as mine as to when to introduce it, although I think just before churning would be best. Earlier and you might kill the essential bacteria required to culture the cream.

The result was absolutely fantastic. The butter was mildly tangy and had a great texture. I'll probably make it often. I'm going to try making shortbread with some of it to see how it holds up in baking.