I love butter. I mean I REALLY love it. I spread it on way too thick and I make toast/crumpets/hot cross buns just so I can eat it. So, you can understand my excitement when I saw Lakeland’s newest and exclusive gadget.
The butter maker
It has never occurred to me to make my own butter. It’s the one ingredient I run out of the most when making cakes. Tim says I should buy shares in President butter! When I saw this gadget I knew I had to have a test run and I am so glad I did. It made me really happy. Funny how making something from scratch can give you such a buzz.
It’s so easy to make. The ‘Chef ‘n butter’ ‘jar’ has two ends. At one side is a plastic white lid which becomes a ramekin dish for you to store the butter in. The other side has holes at the end so you can use it as a sieve and to drain the liquid off. This is sealed with another lid. On the side of the clear jar are measurements for different butter recipes – the honey one will keep Darcey happy. Have you heard of Honey butter? I haven’t!
You use cream to make butter and basically you place 1 cup of cream in the jar and leave it to stand at room temperature for 6-8 hours. Once it has sat you shake the jar for three minutes. After one minute the cream has turned from a smooth white liquid to a more creamy coloured clotted cream texture. After two minutes it looks like the cream has curdled. Then after three minutes you suddenly feel like there is a ball inside the jar and you can hear liquid sloshing around with a lump of butter. The liquid is buttercream.
This was another winner in my books. I needed buttercream for a muffin recipe I wanted to try out so I kept the buttercream to use later. Once the buttermilk is removed you take out the butter and rinse it under cold water then place it in a container……
…. or spread it on a hot cross bun and devour! As the butter is made from cream it’s very creamy. Much more than shop bought ones. I used double cream but I can’t wait to try other creams and add flavours and salt. I’m also thinking that this would make a superior buttercream for cupcakes- if only I didn’t eat it all up before I bake some!
So far I’ve made three batches (in two days. New obsession?) It’s easy fun and absolutely delicious.
EmmaMT
Disclaimer: The product in this post was provided by Lakeland for review. All thoughts and opinions and entirely my own
it looks really easy i bet it would be nice on scones
I have this but really struggled to get it to work properly – what cream have you used?
Oh no. I have used double cream four times now. I have whipping cream to try out next.
Are you really shaking it up? It looks like cream for at least two minutes then suddenly becomes a ball of butter. I think of it in terms of a really good upper arm workout!
Good luck next time
EmmaMT
I tried Elmea but it came out as thick cream – need to possibly wash it out a little more. When I put it in the fridge in the morning it came out smelling like rotten cream. (it was very well shaken!) Will try it again with normal cream. fingers crossed for the next time!
I’m wondering if the vegetable fats in Elmlea make it impossible to solidify? Give it a try with the real stuff and see how you go. I made cookies with my butter today and they were fab so it’s well worth the try.
Let me know how you get on
EmmaMT
Lol, making my own butter is one of those things that make me feel like a ‘successful’ mum/wife /homemaker, I have no idea why! I have a thermomix though that does all the hard work. I bet this is considerably cheaper though!
I think you are a successful mum/wife butter or not!!