Homemade Butter in a Jar
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- fine salt a pinch; optional
- Pour the cream into a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid, filling it no more than halfway.
- Seal the jar and shake steadily. The cream first turns into whipped cream and the jar goes thick and quiet — keep shaking.
- After 5–20 minutes of shaking, the fat suddenly clumps into a pale lump of butter splashing in thin, milky liquid.
- Pour off the liquid — that is buttermilk; save it for baking.
- Cover the butter with cold water and knead and press it with a spoon to wash out the remaining buttermilk. Drain, and repeat twice more with fresh cold water.
- Stir in a pinch of salt if you like. Refrigerate.
A smaller jar with a screw lid is easiest to grip. The washed butter keeps better — the cold-water washes remove buttermilk that would sour it.
