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May 172 min read

Feel like Ma Ingalls: How to Make Butter, A Simple Tutorial

Pt. 4 of Back to Basics Homemaking Chapter

Do you want to feel like Ma Ingalls? By the end of this tutorial I can guarantee that you will feel like her. Making butter with the children always makes me imagine that I am in Little House on the Prairie. I don't colour it with carrot juice (like Ma does), or even shake it by hand. Call me unauthentic, but I still think its a lovely little activity.

Is making butter cost effective over buying butter, you might ask? If you have a cow, then probably. But if your cow is an imaginary cow, then it is probably cheaper to buy butter. But once in awhile it is a fun and educational project, especially if you can get your cream in bulk from Costco. Plus there is nothing tastier than fresh homemade butter! It beats the store butter in taste by 100.

I think it is really important for us (and our children) to become familiar with basic skills like this, even if we aren't going to be using them on a regular basis. It is skills like this which make us more adaptable, knowledgeable, appreciative, and self sufficient homemakers.

How to Make Butter, A Simple Tutorial

Ingredients: Double cream (any amount) and salt.

Put the cream in a bowl and beat it with electric beaters until it starts separating into buttermilk and butter. The buttermilk will be white, and the butter will be yellow, there is a distinct separation between them. You will notice the buttermilk will start to splash out of your bowl and probably in your face, this means its ready.
Next collect all the butter into a ball and remove from the butter milk.
You will then need to squeeze/knead out the excess buttermilk from the butter. I run it under the cold water from the tap while doing this, but this could also be done in a bowl full of cold water. Do this until the water is clear. You can add salt to your butter to taste, and shape it. It is now ready to enjoy!

Tip: Save the buttermilk to use in baking as a replacement for milk, it is fabulous in pancakes.