How to make: Butter

Butter, ever thought of making it? Originally it was used to preserve milk in another form, as without refrigeration it wouldn't last 2 days. It's exceptionally simple and opens up a whole range of flavours which you can introduce. Flavoured butters are known in french kitchens as beurres composes. They can add variety to cooked dishes, and work very well with fresh bread from the 'Homebaked' section. The recipe is for a rather large batch, but it freezes well when sealed in an air tight container, and the process is exactly the same to make a lesser amount, and you get a by product, buttermilk!

Woman making butter - Compost et Kalendrier des Bergères, 1499 (paris)

Makes about 1kg (2¼lb) butter and 1 litre (1¾ pints) buttermilk

Ingredients: 2.4 litres (4 pints) of double cream

Place the cream into a scrupulously clean mixing bowl and use an electric whisk on medium to beat it. You will go through the stages of soft and stiff whipped cream, but carry on and eventually the pale yellow butter fat will be forced out of the cream and you have butter. Drain in a fine sieve for a few hours, then use two wooden spatulas to expel more of the buttermilk. C'est tout! Now you can either separate it and freeze, use it or flavour it.

Potential flavours: Garlic, chopped fresh herbs, almond, crushed anchovies or prawns, mustard (use your own from the How to: section), Lemon, Indian spices, shallot

Uses for buttermilk: Drink it, make soda bread or substitute it for other liquids in cakes, make yogurt