It's a Long Story: Berry Cultured Butter with Lifeway Kefir

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Hi friends!

I am usually all about simple recipes. I love quality food that doesn't take a long time. However, some things are worth waiting for.

Cultured butter is one of those things.

The creaminess of butter with the tanginess of yogurt. Yes, please! It gets even better when you use something delicious like the flavors that Lifeway Kefir offers. Throw in some fresh berries and now you really have something amazing!

Ready to make the most amazing butter you have ever had? Here is what you need:

1 quart heavy whipping cream
1/3 Cup Lifeway Kefir
a pinch of salt
berries of choice
a large jar or bowl

OK, here we go...

Pour your cream and your kefir into your jar. Cover it up and let it sit out for 36-48 hours. Yes, that long. I didn't make it up, go ask America's Test Kitchen. Lift the lid to let out any pressure and give it a shake every now and then. The cultures in the kefir will be growing and multiplying and doing their cultury thing.

Give your cream a taste. It should have that nice tang to it. When my cream came out of the jar it looked like this:

See how it got all thick and lucious? It's like yogurt, Well...it is yogurt! Go ahead and add your salt. Now it is ready to churn. What? You don't have a butter churn? Well neither do I, so you're all good! You can use your stand mixer or your blender. You pick! I used my stand mixer and mixed my cultured cream on 6. You're going to want to throw a towel over it while your mixing. Trust me on this one

After a minute or two the solids and liquids will start to separate. Take a break from churning and pour off the liquid. Look what you have now...buttermilk! I don't know about you, but I never have buttermilk when I need it, and I never use a whole carton. I threw this into ice cube trays, so now I have it waiting whenever I need it!

Now go back to churning. In theory, the solid/liquid separating process should start again. For some reason mine didn't, and it just sort of became whipped butter. I'm totally OK with that. At this point I threw in some cut up berries and mixed it for just a few more seconds. That took me from this:

to this!

You might want to eat it with a spoon at this point. Some people might judge you for that. Not me.

This is way more butter than you want sitting in your fridge. One of the great things about butter is that is freezes beautifully! Use a spatula to scoop portions of butter onto some plastic wrap.

Roll up the plastic wrap and twist the ends until you have a nice little bundle. Throw those babies into the freezer. Now you have cultured berry deliciousness any time you want it!