Cultured Cream, ready to be whipped into butter
So, I was heady from experience making butter for the first time out of delicious Snowville Creamery Heavy Cream. And then someone asked if I soured the cream first, and someone else led me to another blog where the writer has cultured the cream before making butter.
Hm. I thought. I can do that. I have plenty of hot places in my house, and I love making yogurt - this is almost the same thing.
So, I put about 2 cups of cream in a jar and stirred in big dollop of Fage Greek Yogurt (I think 2%). I shook it up a little bit and left it on the desk in my office on the third floor of our house, where it is is around 90 degrees. And the I just let it sit there. For 24 hours. And I got this, the most fattening yogurt ever (can you believe how yellow and pretty it is?!):
And then I whipped it up. I noticed that the yeild seemed a little higher with this technique; possibly because the cultures bind some of the fats? I really have no idea, but this butter was lighter in color than the standard butter, with a much creamier texture and an interesting, slightly sweet and complex flavor. I think the next time, I think I will let the butter culture just a little longer, maybe up to 48 hours, just to develop a really complete and interesting - and maybe funky - flavor. Yum! I will, of course, keep you posted. The buttermilk which comes from this process is really, really great. If you were at my dinner, you had both - the cultured butter was served at the beginning, with the radish crostini, and the buttermilk (cultured and fresh) was in the salad dressing.
The finished product:
