Slow Food Columbus recently held a free (yes! it was free!) workshop at the North Market as part of their taste education efforts.  It was so wonderful to see a room full of folks eager to learn how to make their own butter.   Warren Taylor, a.k.a., the Dairy Evangelist, lead the class and was a fireball of energy and information.  I learned the differences between the milk produced by the beautiful grass fed ladies Snowville cares for and the product from more intensive methods.  I learned about the difference between pasteurization and ultra high temperature (UHT) pasteurization (Why is UHT milk slightly sweet? Because it starts to caramelize at that high temperature. Eek).  Warren even convinced me to switch from skim to whole.  (I’ll move up to 2% first, but I’m doing it.)

But not only did I learn the difference between sweet cream and cultured cream butters (and made them) but I also learned something tremendous: how to make crème fraiche.  Oh yes.

Here’s how:

1 cup of cultured buttermilk

1/2 gallon heavy cream

Mix the two.  In Snowville’s carton, there’s enough room for you to add in the buttermilk and shake it to mix.  Let it sit on the counter for 24 hours.  Voilà ! Crème fraiche.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Then to make cultured butter, pour some of this crème fraiche into a food processor (no higher than the liquid fill line) and flip on.  Process until the butter separates from the buttermilk (it will happen rather suddenly).  Using your hands squeeze out all the buttermilk from the butter (do this over a bowl and save that buttermilk for pancakes or coleslaw dressing), then rinse the butter under cold water until it runs clear (it keeps longer if you do this).

Fun fact: If you make butter from heavy cream, the liquid you press out is not buttermilk, it’s skim milk!  Who knew?

Keep an eye out for crème fraiche in tonight’s dinner.  It’s divine.

Thank you Warren Taylor.  We love Snowville.  We love your pasture grazed cows.  We love their fresh milk and the heavenly cream that rises to the top.