I am going to try and hand make as many Christmas presents this year as I can. Some of them I will be crocheting (must use up the wool I currently have so that I have space the the wool I'm going to need for the presents!), others I will be baking. I plan on making jams, and chutneys, and butter.
Butter you say? Yes, butter. I discovered it's actually a pretty easy thing to do.
You see, you buy a pot of double cream. You put some cold water in the fridge/freezer (but don't let it freeze over!)
You then whisk it. A lot
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Starts off pretty easy |
As you whisk, the cream obviously gets thicker
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STILL the easy bit |
As you whisk, as it gets thicker, the cream starts to change colour. It becomes yellowy, and a whiteish liquid starts to run off.
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This is where it starts getting more difficult... |
At this point, you "rinse" the cream with cold water. I first tipped out the buttermilk into a container (that's what comes out of the cream), and then poured cold water over the cream, tipping that out. Buttermilk makes a wonderful replacement for milk in pancakes!
You then continue whisking. I had to change to a balloon whisk and not a hand whisk, due to the cream getting so thick and, well...buttery! It was at this point I wished I had an electric whisk. My hand felt like it was going to fall off!
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Butter! |
And so you continue until you get no more buttermilk. It's not easy to do with a balloon whisk and a hand whisk, but it took me about half an hour to get this:
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So worth the arm ache! |
You can add herbs, salt, or just leave it plain. I just salted it a little. Yes, I could have just bought it from the shops, but I like knowing I can make my own butter and give it as gifts to others.
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