For the past couple of months, my inner Mennonite (Esther Stoltzfus-Yoder) has been very patiently encouraging me to make my own butter. As I’m someone who can happily survive mostly on olive oil, this craving has been a little surprising, but I gave in because hey — fresh butter! How cool is that? Finding heavy cream without additives was challenging until I decided just to buy it in the city (Ronnybrook at Whole Foods), but the bigger decision was what to serve with this lovely butter. Esther would’ve been especially pleased if I’d made bread, but I was willing to risk a shunning to go with the easier option — croissants from Madeleine Patisserie.

Making your own butter is a perfectly simple thing to do, as it turns out. Make sure your cream has no additives and is around 60 degrees. Pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the whisk attachment, and — this is very, very important — cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Set the mixer to medium-high (I used setting 6 on our Kitchenaid), and whisk away for about 8 […]