All Buttered Up

By Nancy Meeks

Whether cut into flour for scones or piecrust, laminated into dough for puff pastry, creamed with sugar for cakes and cookies, or simply brushed onto a bread loaf warm from the oven, butter just can’t be beat. But with so many options available, it can be hard to know which to choose. Here’s the Bake from Scratch guide to butter.

There are numerous brands and styles of butter to choose from, but all butter is created the same way: cream is churned or stirred until the solids and liquid separate. The liquid is buttermilk, and the fat solids are kneaded or mixed together until they form a large, cohesive piece. Salt is optional, but it is frequently added to help preserve the butter and enhance taste.

Types of Butter

AMERICAN: American butter is what we all grew up with in the US and exactly what comes to your mind when you hear the word “butter.” Sold in ¼-pound rectangular sticks, this butter is 80 percent fat and is graded AA, A, or B using standards of color, flavor, and consistency. Grades AA and A are what you’ll find in grocery stores. American butter tends to be lighter in color than other butters because it has a lower fat content.

AMISH: Traditional Amish butter has around 84 percent fat, which means it’s creamier in texture and darker in color than American butter. It’s also most commonly sold in paper-wrapped 1- to 2-pound logs rather than smaller sticks. Amish butter can be portioned into smaller pieces, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to a year.

EUROPEAN: European butter is approximately82 percent fat, but that small amount can mean a big difference in texture, flavor, and color. European-style butter is creamier and easier to spread than American butter and is more flavorful because of its higher fat content.

IRISH: Also a European-style butter, Irish butter is typically about 82 percent fat. Kerrygold is a favorite brand among Irish butters, and it is the Bake from Scratch test kitchen standard, meaning all our recipes that use butter are developed with Kerrygold. Its signature golden color and rich flavor are thanks to cows that graze the green rolling hills of the Emerald Isle.

Room Temperature vs. Softened

These two terms may seem arbitrary or even as if they are describing the same thing, yet they are different. But first, why does butter need to be at room temperature or softened? Softened butter is ideal for creaming with sugar, meaning the two are combined and air is incorporated into the mixture. If the butter is too cold, not enough air will be incorporated; too warm and the mixture can collapse and bake flat.

Softened butter will hold a slight indentation when you press it with your finger and should be about 65°F (18°C). Room temperature butter will leave a deeper indentation when pressed and should be about 70°F (21°C). If you are making a Swiss buttercream, room temperature butter will incorporate into the egg white mixture more easily and faster than softened butter.

The Heat Is On

Heating butter past its melting point transforms it into a few states that are very versatile for cooking and baking, not to mention delicious.

BROWNED: Butter is melted and then cooked until the milk solids turn golden brown. These browned bits take on a rich, nutty, caramelly flavor. Find our step-by-step guide to making browned butter here.

CLARIFIED: Butter is melted over low heat and gently simmered until it foams as water evaporates and the white milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan. The liquid is carefully poured off or strained to remove the milk solids, which are discarded.

GHEE: Ghee takes clarified butter a step further by continuing to simmer the butter after the milk solids have sunk to the bottom of the pan so that more water evaporates and the milk solids turn brown. The liquid is then strained, and the solids are discarded.

Color Cues

Butter comes in a variety of colors, and there’s often no way of knowing what color your butter is until you unwrap it at home. But why does butter’s color matter, you ask? When baking and creating foods such as wedding cakes and buttercreams, keeping the cake layers and frostings as white as possible can be important. The darker or more intensely yellow the butter that you use, the more color you introduce into the final product.

Label Lingo

You’ll find these terms on all manner of butter labels.

CULTURED: Live bacteria culture is added to cream and left to stand for a while before churning it into butter. This style of butter has a slightly tangy taste.

SWEET CREAM: Most all butter is technically sweet cream butter, meaning it was made with fresh cream rather than cultured cream. “Sweet cream” can sometimes be a synonym for salted butter, so read the label closely.

GRASS FED: Cream used to make this butter is from cows that were able to graze on green pastures. A grass diet indicates a darker color to butter and a stronger flavor.

LIGHT BUTTER: This is butter that was churned with more water and air, resulting in about 25 percent less fat than regular American butter. It’s best for serving rather than being used as a baking ingredient.

Salted vs. Unsalted

Almost all butters are available in unsalted and salted versions, and salt levels in butter will vary from brand to band. Unsalted butter lets you have complete control over the flavor and amount of salt in your baking, whereas salted butter stays fresher longer than unsalted. The Bake from Scratch test kitchen’s standard is unsalted butter unless otherwise specified in the recipe.

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