Butter had been a staple ingredient in making pastries of different kinds. From mixing it with heavy cream or making it as a batter—butter is a favourite get-go for bakers and even beginners. Maximizing its potential as an ingredient is a goal that anyone would want to pull off. Commonly, there are two kinds of butter that we all know: salted and unsalted. But there is one more kind of butter: sweet cream butter.
Butter is fat that has been free from butter and milk. It is mostly made from cow’s milk but can sometimes be from the milk of other mammals. It is safe for consumption for lactose-intolerant people and is rich in vitamin A. In the market, different types of butter had been seen by numerous people who had been confused about it. Aside from all of them being butter, many ingredients vary in these different faces of butter.
Sweet Cream Butter
Puzzlement would always be in our faces every time we see the word ‘sweet cream butter’ in packaging. It can be found in restaurants and grocery stores but not many would take the chance to differentiate. After all, butter is butter and most of us are only familiar with regular butter. Sweet cream butter only differs from regular butter in terms of the kind of milk used in the butter. The answer is pasteurized fresh cream. This is unlike the cultured or sour cream that is used in the regular butter. The word ‘sweet’ additionally, is used to distinguish the sweet cream butter from the sour cream ones.
Sweet cream butter is also known as American style butter which means that it is USDA-monitored that requires at least 80 percent butterfat and no more than 16% of water. It also composes of lactose and protein. The European style is the ones that used soured cream which can be fermented to have a distinct taste. It also gives a faint sour taste. Sweet cream butter can also come in two types—unsalted and salted—which we can find useful in making a different kind of recipes.
In baking different pastries, people should always keep in mind that the kind of butter they used can influence the finished product. It’s important to look at a recipe’s indicated ingredients or think about what you need to buy. For example, using European style butter for a pastry designed for American butter, you would get a greasy and buttery product. At the end of the day, it’s all personal preference and depends on what kind of pastry you are baking.
If there are still questions on types of butter, here’s a supplemental video:
Making Homemade Sweet Cream Butter
Since regular kinds of butter in the household are mostly European style, some people can become frantic once they discovered that a dish is supposed to use sweet cream butter. Resources can’t magically appear in front of our eyes and this can happen a lot of times with sweet cream butter. Knowing how to make one use of household ingredients for making American butter is a powerful skill to have especially in the baking industry.
In this recipe, there are only two ingredients to be used: two cups of heavy cream and ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt. A food processor or blender, and strainer are also appliances we can use in making sweet cream butter:
- Put cream and salt in the food processor or blender.
- Whip the cream until pure butterfat separates from the milky part. Using the food processor, you can hear the liquid splashing against the bowl which indicates that they are now separated. The fluffy cream becoming a bit yellow and grainy is a great thing and only means the separation of buttermilk and butterfat.
- Strain this mixture using the strainer and shake until the liquid part is drained out. Lastly, you can squeeze the butter evenly using a soft towel surrounded by it. Continue this until seeping buttermilk can’t be seen out of the butter.
For storing this homemade sweet cream butter, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Remember to always let it sit for room temperature first before using it. Early consumption is also recommended. In trying this recipe, you can also add variations depending on your personal preferences.
Using Sweet Cream Butter
Many types of butter can confuse a beginner baker. Although there can be differences in the finished product, sweet cream butter generally goes well in different kinds of foods. It can be used in a wide variety of cooking, baking, or as a simple sandwich spread. Here are also recipes where sweet cream butter is used:
- Indian Butter Chicken
- Caramelized Brown Butter Fudge
- Garlic Butter Spread
- Different kinds of sauces
Storing Sweet Cream Butter
Putting your sweet cream butter in the refrigerator for storage is the best choice to prolong its life. Along with this, here are some tips that you can find helpful:
- Use an airtight container in storing your butter for it not to absorb any flavour or odour inside of your fridge.
- Sweet cream butter can thrive well at room temperature when it is regularly used and sealed in an airtight container.
- An airtight container is also the best solution if you’re planning on putting the butter in the freezer. It avoids freezer burn or dehydration and assists in prolonging a sweet cream butter’s shelf life.
- Extremely high temperatures can melt butter easier than expected. Keeping it in a cool place is a must for areas with these temperatures.
Sweet Cream Butter Fast Facts
Here is quick information about sweet cream butter that you may find useful in skimming the whole thing:
- Sweet cream butter is also known as American butter and uses pasteurized fresh cream as its main ingredient.
- American butter contains about 80% fat and each tablespoon contains about 8% recommended dose of Vitamin A. The salted variant also contains sodium.
- Creating sweet cream butter is easy: separate butterfat and buttermilk and add a pinch of salt as a preservative.
- Sweet cream butter, or butter in general, is healthier to use instead of vegetable processed oil.
- Storing and prolonging sweet cream butter’s shelf life can easily be done by using an airtight container. This not only blocks odor from entering the butter but also makes sure that bacteria won’t form inside of it.
A video about making your homemade sweet cream butter:
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