Add about 2 cups of cream to your stand mixer or blender.

First, the cream will thicken and turn into whipped cream.

This is the first stage and it happens pretty quickly in a blender or longer in a kitchen aide style mixer.

After the whipped cream stage, something cool happens.

Suddenly the mixture will break, separating into: butter solids & liquid buttermilk

You’ll hear splashing and see liquid forming in the bowl. That means your butter is ready.

Also remember:

Mixing longer creates firmer butter

Smaller butter pieces hold more buttermilk

Removing buttermilk helps butter last longer

Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to separate the butter from the buttermilk.

Save the buttermilk if you’d like! It can be: used in baking, fed to pets, or added to the garden as fertilizer

Place the butter in a bowl and rinse it with very cold water.

Gently squeeze the butter to push out the remaining buttermilk.

You’ll notice the water turning cloudy — that’s the buttermilk coming out.

Keep rinsing and squeezing until the water runs mostly clear.

This step is important because any buttermilk left in will make butter spoil faster.

If you like salted butter, add a small pinch of salt and work it into the butter.

Salt can also help push out a little more moisture.

Press the butter into a block or cube using parchment paper.

At this point your hands will probably be very soft and moisturized from the butter — a nice little bonus!