Homemade Butter

Pour cream into a large, deep bowl and whip it at
high speed using a handheld electric mixer. Move
beaters up and down and all through the cream as
you’re whipping. It’ll be several minutes before the
cream begins to turn into butter. At first, it will look
like a creamy liquid, then the cream will thicken into
soft mounds, and after that, it will stand up in stiff
peaks when you touch the surface with the beaters.

Keep on whipping until the cream separates into little bits of butter and a milky-looking liquid— buttermilk. As more buttermilk appears, drain it off into a glass or jar. Keep whipping until larger blobs of butter form and begin to stick together. Eventually the butter blob will no longer produce any more liquid. That means the butter is done.

Drain off any remaining buttermilk. (Add ice to this and drink it, or refrigerate it to use later in another recipe, such as pancakes or mashed potatoes.) If you like, rinse the butter in cool water, drain and squeeze out more liquid with your hands—this will help it keep a little longer, but it’s not a necessary step. Pat the fresh butter with paper towels. If desired, add salt to taste and gently knead it through the butter with your fingers or a wooden spoon.

To store, wrap butter in waxed paper or transfer it to a tight-lidded container. It will keep 8 to 10 days in the fridge or up to six months in the freezer.