The best-quality butter has a sweet flavor, similar to fresh heavy cream; if salt has been added, it should be barely detectable. It’s surprisingly simple to make butter at home— just start with high-quality organic heavy whipping cream.

Preparation

1. Let cream stand at room temperature for about an hour, and then pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment.
2. Turn the mixer on low and begin to work the cream. As the cream thickens, turn the mixer up to medium. Keep mixing until you see clumpy curds in milky liquid. You might want to use the mixer’s pouring shield to prevent buttermilk from splashing everywhere. Also, scrape down the bowl as needed.
3. Use a strainer to drain the butter curds from the liquid. You can carefully pour the liquid (i.e., buttermilk) into a small drinking glass and refrigerate it to use for baking.
4. Place the butter into a mixing bowl and pour ice cold water on top. Gently massage the butter and press it together to remove any additional buttermilk.
5. Once you’ve gently pressed the excess water out of the butter, return the butter to the mixing bowl and whisk again on medium speed for an additional minute or two. You want to get as much of the water out as possible.
6. Now that you have the butter, you can flavor with sea salt, chopped fresh herbs, etc. Store the butter, well covered, in the refrigerator until ready to use. It should last for at least a week.