Homemade Butter

My kids are on Spring break this week and because this is the first time we haven't taken a vacation during Spring break, I've been challenging myself to come up with fun and interesting ways to keep my kids entertained. We've been reading the Little House on the Prairie series and I thought it would be fun to tie this into that time period.

Today, we made homemade butter!! We used my KitchenAid for a big batch - and while that was churning, each of the kids had smaller amounts of this recipe in jars with 3 marbles in the jars to help agitate the butter and make it easier for them. It was a good lesson as they each shook their jars to realize how much effort went into making butter "in the olden days" when people used a churn instead of an electric device.  

Homemade Butter
1/4 c milk
1 shredded carrot*
1 qt heavy cream
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp table sugar

1. Peel & finely grate a carrot (*or do what I did and just buy shredded carrots and use about 1/2 c from the bag). Heat in small saucepan with 1/4 cup milk until milk is bubbly. Put the carrots in a clean cheesecloth (I actually used a cloth napkin) and pour the hot milk over the carrots into the bowl of your stand mixer. Squeeze all the milk out of the carrots. Discard shredded carrot.

2. Pour cream into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add salt and sugar. Cover mixer with a towel it will be a little messy. Set mixer on low (2) and let the paddle do the work.

3. Continue mixing, checking on mixture frequently. It will first turn to whipped cream, then begin to get grainy and separate into butter and buttermilk. The butter is ready when it sticks in a clump to the paddle.

4. Strain the buttermilk off of the butter.

5. Using your hands or a spatula, press out excess buttermilk under cold running water until water runs clear. Shape into stick or ball. Butter will keep covered in refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. Serve with bread and enjoy!

**The butter we shook in jars didn't turn out as firm as the butter from the KitchenAid - not enough elbow grease I guess.

Number of servings (yield): Approximately 1 pound of butter + 3/4 cup of buttermilk