How many have you tried?
Let’s be honest. There really isn’t a lot that doesn’t taste good lathered or cooked in butter. Whether you’re adding it to vegies, making a decadent butter cake or using it for a mouth-watering brown butter pasta, you’ll get the most out of this delicious ingredient if you know how to use it. Read on to discover the differences between salted and unsalted, cultured and clarified and some others you may not be familiar with – you might even be able to share a few tips with your friends!
Salted/Unsalted butter – Eggs +
Salted butter really is the all-rounder when it comes to butter. It’s great when you don’t really need to control the amount of salt you’re putting into your cooking or you’re looking for an ingredient to really lift the flavour. Unsalted butter is commonly used for baking because the creamy, buttery flavour is able to shine through. But, if your recipe calls for adding salt to the mixture, you’ll be able to control just how much you use.
Cultured butter – Whisked
Also known as European butter, this variety is popular in, well, Europe! Cultured butter is created by adding live bacteria (cultures) to the butter before the churning process begins, unlike regular butter, which starts off as cream before going through the churning machine. The tangy flavour in cultured butter is derived from the fermentation process, which also results in a higher fat content; perfect for deliciously flaky pastries we all love to devour… Did somebody say croissants?
Clarified butter – The Essential Ingredient
The boiling process for clarified butter removes all milk solids and water, leaving you with a butter that is almost 100% butter fat and rich in flavour. Clarified butter is ideal for drizzling over seafood (delish) and sautéing vegies, chicken and fish. This butter has a higher smoke point than regular butter due to the lack of milk solids, which makes it perfect for pan frying or sautéing. Ghee is a well-known clarified butter, which originated in India and is also a staple in many Middle Eastern and South Asian cuisines.
Vegan Cultured Butter – Ripe the Organic Grocer
Made from a long list of organic ingredients including olive oil, coconut oil and activated raw cashews, Ripe’s vegan cultured butter is the perfect replacement for the original thing and great for anyone on a vegan diet. It’s easy to spread and great for baking too.
Almond Butter – The Nut Stand
For another alternative to regular butter, try almond butter. It’s a great source of protein, fiber and healthy fats and given the nutty content and natural oils, it doesn’t turn solid in the fridge and is actually super easy to spread. You can bake with almond butter too. Check out this mouth-watering recipe for blueberry cookies with almond butter.
