The Green Earth Girl

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April 12th, 2011

I made my very own homemade butter last week, which was a big success. It was sweet and creamy, it honestly tasted better than store-bought butter. But the four cups of cream left me with about two cups of butter. If I had planned to bake that week, it would have been fine. Alas, I was without baking plans and with a bunch of plain butter, so I got restless and decided to dress it up.

My first experiment was to make a butter that would be tasty in pasta or on bread at dinner. I took some fresh basil, chopped it up with some garlic, then spread it out on the butter (I rolled out the butter between two sheets of plastic wrap using a rolling pin). I rolled up the butter like sushi, and voila – compound basil butter! I put it on foccacia bread that night, then in some mashed potatoes the next night – delicious!

Next, I tried to make a morning time butter. Cinnamon-Sugar butter crossed my mind (and I will definitely try it soon) but I was feeling a little more creative than that. So I made a compound honey butter, with orange zest on top. Perfect for an English muffin or toast! Last, but not least, inspired by Suvir Saran’s article in the February/March issue of Organic Gardening, I made Turmeric butter. I’m not sure what to use this with, aside from bread, so any suggestions would be helpful. But I will say that it tastes great; it’s spicy, warm, and comforting just like butter should be.

Remember, you can make compound butter with store-bought butter just as easily. So go experiment! And if you have a favorite compound butter, please let me know in the comments below.