A Wisewoman Might Have Brought Butter

I think I’m in love. In my fridge, I have ten little jars of rich, smooth butter dripping with flavor. I may or may not have licked the butter-covered spoon once. Or twice. This is one of the most rewarding things I have ever baked or cooked. These are my lovelies:

I have a confession to make though; I have never really been a butter-lover because I prefer the taste of my simple healthier yogurt spread. I got put on a statin today, so I’ll have to get back to you on the long-term health benefits of avoiding butter.

Even though I personally dislike butter, Christmas is in less than a week, and as a member of the Procrastinators’ Club, I have plenty of shopping and wrapping left to do. This year, I have decided to make different kinds of butter. Mostly this was because I really think people would like them, and partly because I thought it would be cheaper than buying gifts outright. Since this was for gifts I decided to buy a good-quality butter and non-generic mix-ins. Note to those with small wallets: This can add up fast. 

In preparation for making my butters, I found two great websites with recipes here and here. I bought little jars from Amazon. I made my shopping list and headed out. I picked up everything I needed at our grocery, minus one ingredient: Raspberry Extract. I have never before needed it for anything, but I figured it wouldn’t be that hard to find. I went to our specialty grocers’ and they didn’t have it. Finally I broke down and went to Wal-Mart and found it!

Once my butter had softened I was ready to start.

First flavor: Whipped Cinnamon Honey Butter

You’ll need

• 1 lb softened butter (I used Keller’s Salted)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp mild molasses
• 2 tsp cinnamon (plus a little more if you want it to be very flavorful)

Put everything in one bowl and whip, using beaters. Once everything is blended, taste and add more cinnamon if necessary. I ended up using probably 2 1/2 tsp total, and it’s still not super strong.

Our next flavor is Whipped Raspberry Butter, featuring raspberry extract

For 1 lb of butter, you’ll need:

• 1/2 cup raspberry jam (I used Trappist Seedless Red Raspberry Jam)
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp raspberry extract (plus more…same with the jam)

I had to add another teaspoon of jam and a splash of raspberry extract because it wasn’t a strong raspberry flavor, and I really wanted to taste the raspberry.

My third flavor, for tossing with veggies, is Garlic & Chive Butter.

For 1 lb of butter:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil (I used less)
• 1 Tbsp fresh chives
• 2 cloves garlic

Mix all in a bowl till well blended. I didn’t measure the chives because I chopped them up and dumped them in without thinking. We’ll see how it tastes.

My fourth and final butter was Roasted Garlic Butter.

For each pound of butter use 1 head of garlic.

Roast the garlic. I had no idea what that meant, so I googled it. First, peel off the outer skins so it’s just the skin around each clove, but they’re all still connected. Then lop the top of the whole head off, opening up each clove. Pour olive oil over each clove and wrap in foil, then bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes. This is a great time to clean out your fridge. Incidentally, I now know that cleaning dried syrupy wine off the bottom of the fridge is a great way to stain a sponge pink.

Garlic, ready to go in the oven

Garlic after being roasted

After it’s done roasting, pull all the cloves out of the skins and mash with a fork. Add to the butter and stir till blended. I didn’t quite have as much garlic as I wanted, so I sprinkled a little garlic powder in too.

I packaged up all my butters and attempted to clean the kitchen. Whipped butter has a very loud voice, probably because it’s full of air, and I could hear it calling me. Eventually I gave up and prepared myself some toast with the whipped cinnamon honey butter. I took this picture before I took a bite, which is good. Once I took the first bite, there was no way I would have stopped to take a picture.

Yum!

I won’t give out the butters till Tuesday, but at least in my mind these are a complete success!!