Have you hopped on the cultured butter bandwagon yet? It’s softer, creamier, and way lighter than regular ol’ butter, with a richer, more complex flavor that’s hard to beat!
Plus, it comes with the added bonus of probiotics for an extra health boost!
Curious to find out what you’ve been missing? Continue reading for an easy to make cultured butter recipe, and learn how just 1 ingredient can transform your butter!
What is Cultured Butter?
Cultured butter is a probiotic food that is made from fermented or soured cream. Unlike normal butter, cultured butter contains active, live bacteria that convert milk sugars into lactic acid.
Traditionally, cultured butter is made by souring cream with naturally occurring bacteria. Nowadays with most store bought cream being pasteurized, yogurt is used to supplement the bacteria lost during pasteurization to kickstart the souring process.
Switching to Cultured Butter
One question you may have about cultured butter is if you can substitute or switch it out from normal butter? And the answer is yes! You can absolutely swap out your regular butter for cultured butter!
Whether you use it in cakes, icing, or layer it on sourdough toast, cultured butter works just as well as any butter and gives properties like,
- Rich, silky texture
- Tangy, bold flavor
- Light and fluffy consistency
Who would have thought something so simple could be so complex?!
What about the buttermilk?
Churning heavy cream at home isn’t just for making great tasting butter, it’s also a great way to collect homemade buttermilk too!
You may have noticed that after churning you not only have fat solids that mold into butter, but a bowl filled with buttermilk.
If you’re not sure what to do with your buttermilk consider adding it to some of your favorite recipes like smoothies or cakes. I like using buttermilk in my pancakes for a silky consistency and a fluffier bite!
Does it need salt?
While salt does enhance flavor, I personally like this recipe without it.
If you’re a salty kinda gal and want to spice up your butter with a sprinkle of salt you most definitely can do so! I recommend no more than 1/4 tsp per 4oz of butter as this is the general rule of thumb for most store bought salted butters.
Culture butter offers such a rich, bold flavor as is, that for me it honestly doesn’t need it.
Most baked goods like sourdough breads use up a lot of salt already and although it’s necessary for your health, we tend to consume more than we need.
If you want to cut back and reduce your daily sodium intake, withholding salt most certainly won’t diminish the flavor!
How to Make Cultured Butter
Making cultured butter has to be the easiest recipe I have ever tried.
It only requires 2 ingredients – heavy cream and plain yogurt, and if you have a mixer it does most of the brunt work for you!
To make cultured butter you’ll want to find plain yogurt with live active cultures. I like to use siggi’s plain yogurt. Using yogurt that has live cultures like lactic acid bacteria is vital for fermenting your cream and creating that distinctive sour tang!
To sour your cream, you’ll want to combine your yogurt with heavy cream and allow it to ferment for a few days on the counter around 65-70C. This is the ideal temperature for your fat solids to quickly separate upon churning.
Use heavy cream. Although you can still make butter with light cream I prefer heavy cream for the higher fat content. The higher the fat content the more fat solids you’ll separate from your buttermilk, and the more butter you’ll end up with!
After the solids have separated from the liquid you’ll strain off the buttermilk and collect the deconstructed milk fats. You can save and store your buttermilk in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.
Next you’ll need to shape your butter. Place it in a butter bell to keep at room temperature or shape it and wrap it for long term cold storage.
Your butter it’s now ready for use! You can mix it into your next batch of soft cookies or spread it over some sourdough toast!
Store it in the fridge for 2-3 weeks or in the freezer for up to 9 months!
Cultured Butter Recipe
Creamiest Cultured Butter Recipe
Difficulty: Easy5-10
minutes2-3
daysWant to make the creamiest cultured butter at home? It's packed full of probiotics and offers a unique rich flavor regular butter just cant match. Mix it into your cookie dough or spread it over some warm sourdough toast - either way, you can't go wrong with cultured butter!
Ingredients
3 tbsp plain yogurt (with live, active cultures)
1 qt heavy cream
- Materials
2 silicone spatulas
mixing bowl with lid
hand mixer or stand mixer
fine mesh strainer
cling wrap or parchment
Directions
In a large mixing bowl or a container with a sealable lid combine 1 quart of heavy cream and 3 tablespoons of your plain yogurt.
Stir until well incorporated and seal with a lid.
Rest at room temperature on a counter or shelf for 48-72 hours. This gives time to populate the bacteria and ferment your cream.
After 48 hours of resting, give your cream a quick mix. It should have thickened to a creamy consistency similar to sour cream. If it has not thickened up, rest for another 24 hours for a total of 72 hours. When its ready you’ll also notice a slight sour smell - don't worry, this is a good thing!
Grab a hand mixer or add your cream to a stand mixer and mix on low speed. As you're mixing you'll notice the cream is incorporating air and creating a whipped cream texture.
When the mixture "splits" or looks curdled, this means the fat solids are beginning to separate and clump. Continue mixing until your butter is fully separated from the liquid. This should take roughly 5-10 min of total mixing time depending on the temperature of your cream.
When you butter is clearly separated drain your buttermilk into a jar. You’ll want a fine mesh strainer to catch some stray fat solids. Label with today's date and store for 2-3 weeks in the fridge.
Take your remaining butter and mold it into a ball, lightly squeezing out the buttermilk.
Give you butter a good rinse of cool water and continue squeezing. You want to remove as much butter milk as possible. The water should turn from cloudy to clear.
Once clean, place your butter ball on a flat surface and shape using a flat silicone spatula. It may be a bit sticky if your butter is on the warmer side. To firm it up a bit you can pop it in the fridge for a couple mins, but be careful not to leave it in for too long or your butter will harden too much.
Your butter is now ready! Spread some over toast for a quick bite or wrap in parchment or cling wrap for long term cold storage!
