Homemade Butter and Buttermilk Tutorial

Today was a very productive day full of wonderful memories...an epic failure in the kitchen and a great success, as well! I brewed myself a pot of coffee and got to work on this week's loaf of bread. I have whole wheat in the freezer so I decided today was a Cinnamon Raisin bread day. I did all the prep work and left the bread to rise. While it did, June and I whipped up a batch of Lemon Icebox Pie Icecream for later, and then she ran off to watch her Dora the Explorer movie and eat her breakfast. So I cleaned up a bit and as I looked at my half-full carton of heavy cream, I wondered what else I could make with it. I looked it up on the internet and found out you could make butter and buttermilk from heavy cream!! What's better than fresh, homemade butter spread over a warm slice of fresh, homemade Cinnamon Raisin bread? NOTHING, that's what. So, here's my tutorial on how to make fresh butter and buttermilk in about 10 minutes. I used my stand-mixer, but you can also use hand-mixers, or by hand with a whisk.


Homemade Butter

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

Pour the heavy cream into your bowl and whisk on medium-high speed for 8-10 minutes. The cream will go through several stages before it turns to butter. I'll post the pictures of each stage.

  

It's ready when the butter clumps together and separates from the buttermilk. Once you get to this stage, you need to squeeze out any remaining buttermilk. I used a cheesecloth, but a paper towel works.

That's it! You just made fresh homemade sweet cream butter and buttermilk. You could have added salt towards the end of the mixing if you wanted, about 1/4 teaspoon. But I enjoy unsalted butter, myself, and I don't want to salt my buttermilk. Store in a Tupperware container in the fridge. Use the buttermilk in baking and cooking!


As for the epic failure in the kitchen, I rolled my Cinnamon Raisin bread up and put it in the loaf pan, left it to rise for a second time...and forgot about it. Completely forgot I was making bread. Came back 2 1/2 hours later to what looked like a Hideous Blob in my oven. It rose over the edges of the loaf pan and down into my oven. I tried to save it, I tucked it back in to the pan and baked it. But it didn't survive. I still ate it, mind you, but it looked awful. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Then we played dress up. I was Princess Mommy and she was Queen June...I'd like to know where she got the idea that she was the Queen??!!

Then the mail passed and my little Junebug received her first Highlights magazine!! Remember those?! I LOVED getting my Highlights in the mail!

 

Followed by an afternoon on the trampoline, a change of high-heels, and half a loaf of bread that she swiped from the counter when I wasn't looking...

Marie observed as usual. She enjoyed herself today, too. Until she fell in the tub and smacked her mouth on the edge of my cast-iron claw-foot tub. She bled, cried, and was fine. No permanent damage. Nothing some Advil couldn't fix.

Whew!! Busy day today. And now the girls are in bed, and it's couples Bible Study tonight with my hubby. I hope all the students had a great first day of school today! I pray for a blessed and safe new school year and for all you parents, too. Goodnight!