I used to think that the only way to make fresh butter at home was by shaking the jar filled with cream vigorously until your arm falls off, but thanks to the bread-making class I took at Surfas Culinary District in Culver City, I now know that churning a melt-in-your-mouth spread is as easy as turning on the food processor!

In addition to five amazing breads I baked in class, I also learned how to make fresh butter from scratch during the two-day workshop!  There are only two ingredients you need here: fresh heavy cream and crushed ice cubes. That’s it! You’ll need some sea salt or herbs if you like to add a dash of flavor, but those are optional.

To make butter, simply pour the heavy cream into a food processor and “process the cream until the butter begins to separate from the buttermilk and the butterfat granules are about half the size of pea,” according to Chef John’s instruction. “With the machine running, pour in the ice cube.”

You can also listen for the changes.

Once the large mass is formed, turn off the machine.

Then transfer the entire content into a container lined with a cheesecloth.

Let the mass drain for a few minutes.  Just a quick caveat here.  We took out the mass slightly too early from the food professor, hence the white color.  If you let it process a little longer, the mass will produce a more, yellow hue that’s much closer to the actual butter.  Ours ended up tasting pretty good but was definitely a little too watery and too “fluffy” in texture.

Squeeze out all the water.  The strained liquid is buttermilk.

Optional:  If you want additives, like salt or herbs (or even fruits and preservatives for sweet butter), this is the time to add them in.  We added a generous amount of coursed sea salt in ours.

Tada!  The fresh butter is made!  As I mentioned, ours wasn’t the best (and our group ended up going to other tables to sample other’s creations frequently) but it was still pretty darn good.

And I’m happy to report that my arm is still intact!