Homemade Butter {recipe}

I think I've become slightly obsessed with making butter.  It's so simple to do, and tastes so fresh and delicious... and it's kind of fun, and gratifying.  I always tend to have heavy cream in my fridge, but sometimes I don't use all of it up before it goes bad.  Well now I know what to do with it - butter!  Don't ever let your cream go bad again!  If you find a good deal on heavy cream, it could even be cheaper than actually buying butter.  You could do this in a food processor or blender, but I prefer to use my KitchenAid mixer.

1.  Put whole cream into your mixer (blender or food processor).  Whip on high speed.  First it will become whipped cream (yum!).. but keep going and it will get thicker.  It will look kind of like whipped butter.  But don't stop!

2.  After a few minutes.. 5 or 10.. suddenly the milk solids will separate from the liquids.  I like to put a towel over my KitchenAid.. otherwise it would get very messy.  After a few seconds, when the solids come together, and separate from the liquid (buttermilk!).. stop your mixer.

3.  When it's done, it's super important to squeeze out any remaining buttermilk from the solids.  Squeeze the butter until cold, running water until the liquid runs clear.  If you don't get it all out, your butter will go rancid within just a few days.  Then pack it into an airtight container, or plastic wrap, and refrigerate or freeze.

Keep the buttermilk and bake something yummy with it, too!  :)  This would be something fun to do with kids, as an 'experiment' in the kitchen.  My 2 year old doesn't care much now, but one day she'll think it's fun, I'm sure.  :)

Start with however much heavy cream you want.

 First it turns to whipped cream!

 Then is separates and looks a little like whipped butter.

 Stop when the solids come together a little more.

 For me, 1 pint made almost 6 ounces of butter.  And after I strained it, I had about 1 cup of buttermilk (don't waste that either!  Use it for pancakes, waffles, or to bake something delicious)!

Enjoy your fresh butter!