Butter, baby!

I was given the recipe from a friend at work a few weeks months! ago, but I haven't had the guts to try it yet. I've heard about making your own butter (good grief, the churning) but this seemed like a pretty viable alternative. Plus, you can't beat a recipe that has ONE ingredient and only dirties ONE utensil, amirite?

First of all, I was thoroughly warned to wrap my Kitchenaid. Butter splatters, ya'll. I have a plastic cover for the top of my bowl, but it's not very liquid-tight, so I wrapped up as a precaution.

This is what the cream looks like for the first 15 minutes or so. I ran my Kitchenaid on low for 20 minutes and didn't see any results. So then I turned it up a few notches because I'm impatient and the Internet told me to....

Success! We have some semblance of solids forming, and, being the newbie that I am, I thought I was done. That's creamy enough, right?

 No. This is, in fact, NOT the stage at which you've finished. Silly Brie. Not only did I waffle as to whether I was done or not, I took my plastic wrap off. And then this happened...

What you may not understand through this picture is the FOUNTAIN OF BUTTERMILK THAT MY KITCHENAID BECAME. I applied the plastic wrap again, but I thought I was out of the splash zone. And then that buttermilk really started to separate. And I'm laughing hysterically because I'm trying  to cover a leak spot with my hand, only to realize that buttermilk is squirting out of the back, running all over the counter and my dog is having a field day lapping up everything that has dripped and puddled on the floor. 

It was cathartic. And just what I needed. And thank goodness I had cleaned the kitchen before I tried to do this.

Not pictured? Me bent over the sink for 10 minutes, trying to "rinse" the butter with cold water. Apparently, if you leave buttermilk IN the butter it causes the butter to go rancid faster. So far we haven't run into any problems, but I don't think that's because of my butter-rinsing skills. I also wasn't a big fan of having my hands smell like butter all day. 

Of course I had to make something bread-like so I wasn't tasting the butter solo. Once I felt that I had rinsed the butter enough I sprinkled some salt on (1/4 to 1/2 tsp? I guessed), mixed it up and laid it to rest in the fridge. This butter rocks.

My friend flavors her butter: mint, basil, smoked salt...maybe next time! I can't wait!!

Recipe
1 qt heavy whipping cream
salt/herbs to taste

Put the cream in the Kitchenaid (properly Saran wrapped!) and turn on medium until it starts to separate. This is a pretty obvious process and will take at least 20 minutes. (Up the speed if this isn't happening fast enough) Strain the butter in a wire mesh seive (could keep the buttermilk) and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Squeeze as much water out as possible, then season and enjoy!