Homemade Butter

It's very important to use a natural sour cream that doesn't have any thickeners (like Guar gum) when making this recipe. The liquid that remains is actually buttermilk. This recipe is courtesy of Alex Guarnaschelli.

• Ready In: 20 mins
• Yields: 1 ball of butter

Ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 cups heavy cream
• 1  cup sour cream
• 1  teaspoon coarse sea salt
•  fresh ground black pepper

Directions

1. Prepare a medium-size bowl of ice water.
2. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, gradually whip the cream and sour cream together.
3. Increase the speed of the mixer and continue whipping until the cream separates and the mixture thickens.
4. Use a rubber spatula to gather up the butter and remove it from the bowl.
5. There will be some liquid that is a natural result of this process.
6. That liquid is actually buttermilk.
7. Gather the ball of butter together into a double layer of cheesecloth or a thin kitchen towel and squeeze the cloth to remove the remainer of the buttermilk.
8. Plunge the ball of butter (still in the cloth) into the ice bath to wash any buttermilk off the surface.
9. Sprinkly with salt and pepper, to taste.
10. Pack the butter into a bowl or roll it into a ball or log shape using plastic wrap.
11. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator.