Making Spreadable Butter in the Thermomix

I love being able to make my own butter and butter spreads! Most bought butter spreads have additives, preservatives and colours in them, and often contain vegetable oils. By using a good quality pure cream to make your own butter, then adding a good quality oil, you can have a delicious butter spread that’s free from all the ‘nasties’ at a fraction of the cost. You’ll get the best savings by buying your cream in bulk. We buy cream in 2 litre bottles from our local biodynamic dairy, and you can often find 2 litre bottles of pure cream in the supermarket also.

With the Thermomix, making butter is a cinch. It usually takes about a minute, maybe two, to change from pure cream into butter and buttermilk. It costs less than buying pre-made butter, and if you make it into a butter spread (adding oil and water and whipping it up), it costs even less! I think most people now know that margarine is not a healthy choice, so this is a good alternative to margarine if you’re wanting something that is spreadable from the fridge. 

This spread works well in most recipes that call for butter – cakes, biscuits, scones, breads… My mum uses extra virgin, cold-pressed olive oil in hers, but some people find the taste too strong. I usually use macadamia oil or high-oleic, organic, cold-pressed sunflower oil. 

Here’s how I make my butter spread in the Thermomix:

Making Spreadable Butter in the Thermomix

2014-07-12 18:57:27

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Ingredients

1. 600g pure cream
2. macadamia oil, olive oil, or high-oleic cold-pressed sunflower oil
3. filtered water
4. sea salt/himalayan salt (opt.)

Instructions

1. Insert the butterfly and measure in the cream.
2. Whip on speed 4 until it separates into butter and buttermilk. It will start to bump around, so stay near your machine and turn it off after a couple of seconds of 'bumping'. It usually takes only a minute or two, but I have had older cream take up to 5 minutes.
3. Strain the buttermilk by pouring it through the strainer/rice basket into a bowl. Squeeze the butter well with the spatula (against the side of the bowl) to get out as much of the buttermilk as you can. The buttermilk is lovely to bake with in scones, breads, cakes and pancakes (if you can have dairy), so don't throw it out!
4. Remove the butterfly from the bowl and pour about 500g icy cold water over the butter. Mix it on speed 4 for a few seconds to rinse it. Strain the water off into the sink, pressing the butter against the side of the bowl with the spatula and pouring through the strainer/rice basket again. The butter needs to be rinsed twice, or until the water is clear (see below). If you leave any buttermilk in the butter, it will turn sour more quickly.
5. Give the butter a good squeeze to get rid of any remaining water. This can be done with the spatula, squeezing the butter against the side of the bowl; or you can wrap a piece of muslin around the butter and squeeze it; or you can just use your hands.
6. Now make sure the bowl is empty, and weigh the butter back in so you know how much you have. Then add in that much oil and water.
7. Eg: If you end up with 300g of butter, add 300g of oil and 300g of water. Also add a little salt if you like. I add a bit less than a teaspoon of salt to this amount of butter, oil and water.
8. Insert the butterfly, and whip the butter, oil, water and salt on speed 4 for about 20 seconds, or until well combined. Pour into a container (preferably glass) and keep in the fridge.

Quirky Cooking https://www.quirkycooking.com.au/

This butter spread will last a few weeks if kept refrigerated, and is easy to spread straight from the fridge.