Homemade butter in minutes

One ingredient. Ten minutes. You'll never buy butter again.

I only recently discovered how quick and easy it is to make butter. I have NO idea why I’ve been buying butter all of this time.

This is a one-ingredient recipe that might just change your life. Dramatic? Nope. Homemade butter is a game-changer.

Let's get back to making, and eating, the kind of butter our great-grandmothers knew.

For the butter you'll want to spread on everything, you'll need...

• 600ml fresh double cream

• A couple of pinches of sea salt flakes

Equipment:

• An electric hand-whisk or stand mixer, or even a stick blender or juicer will also get you there - I’ve used all of these options.

• A bowl of water with a few ice-cubes in it

• A container or sheet of baking paper for shaping

How to make a proper cup of cocoa, the old fashioned way…

1 | Whisk the cream

Pour the double cream into a large bowl and begin whisking, using your electric hand-whisk, stand mixer, stick blender or juicer.

It will thicken first into soft peaks, then stiff peaks, then something that looks yellow and slightly lumpy. Keep going…

2 | Watch for the buttermilk

Suddenly, the cream will separate.

What was thick and pale will split into bright yellow butter and a pool of milky liquid - that's the buttermilk. This is exactly what you're looking for.

3 | Save the buttermilk

Tip the buttermilk into a separate jug and set it aside. It's wonderful in pancakes, scones, or soda bread, so don't pour it away.

You might have to do this a few times - whisk, pour away the butter milk, whisk… and repeat.

4 | Keep whisking

Continue whisking the butter until it stops releasing buttermilk. You want to get as much out as possible. The less buttermilk left in the butter, the longer it will keep.

5 | Add salt

Add a couple of generous pinches of sea salt flakes and mix well to combine.

Taste as you go. This is your butter, made exactly as you like it.

6 | Wash your butter

Plunge your butter into a bowl of iced water and work it gently with your hands, squeezing out any last traces of buttermilk.

7 | Shape and chill

Mould the butter into a block and wrap it in baking paper. Or, what I do is squash it into an enamel dish which I then use as my butter dish.

Put your butter in the fridge until it’s firm.

Now, it’s ready to eat! Enjoy it the only way anyone should eat butter… Spread it thickly on toast or a hunk of fresh sourdough.

There’s a particular pleasure in making something this simple, this bloody delicious, from a single ingredient.

Once you've tasted it, the block of butter from the supermarket will never quite cut it again.

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