Homemade Herb Butter
Home-made butter is incredibly easy to make, delicious and easily customised with leftover herbs such as parsley, tarragon or chives.
Makes one block of butter.
Ingredients
500 millilitres double dairy cream
½ teaspoon of sea salt
Handful of herbs such as parsley, tarragon or chives, finely chopped
Method
Place 500 millilitres of double cream in a chilled electric mixer and whisk – initially it will turn to whipped cream with stiff peaks but after a while, it will break down and separate into butterfat and milk. Pour everything into a piece of muslin cloth and set over a colander.
Allow the buttermilk to drain off and reserve it in the fridge for later use.
When most of the buttermilk has drained off, tightly squeeze the muslin to make sure all the excess has drained out. A good way of checking that all of the buttermilk has been drained is to squeeze the muslin while submerged in a bowl of ice-cold water. At first, the water will turn cloudy – pour away the cloudy water and repeat 2 to 3 times until the water remains clear. This is important step, as residual buttermilk will cause the flavour of the butter to spoil more quickly
Fold in the chopped herbs and salt spread the butter out onto a piece of baking paper. Using the paper as an aid, roll the butter into a neat cylinder.
Place the cylinder in the fridge to firm up until ready to use. Alternatively, you can freeze it until you need it.
Recipe provided by Mark Breen of Seasonal Kitchen.
