Handmade Unsalted Butter

A few weeks ago I came into a gallon of raw, farm-fresh cream.  After a couple batches of creme fraiche, several creamy desserts, and a lot of decadent earl gray tea, my fridge still boasted 3 quarts and I still had not, alas, gained the capacity to drink the stuff straight.  So the cream sat waiting for my next inspiration, slowly taking on that pleasant tang of age.  When the march swap came around, the cream was sweet and full of flavor, with a background sourness that made it perfect for butter.

So, I sat down with the remaining cream in an extra-large mason jar and started shaking.  The Internet promised that, eventually, my efforts would pay off, the fat would separate from the liquid and I could revive my tired body with spoonfuls of unctuous, sweet butter.  Alas, I'll never know- after half an hour, my arms wilting with fatigue, I gave up, plunged my immersion blender into the jar, and within 2 minutes - voila!

After settling down from the delight of actually making butter, I poured the contents of my mason jar through a strainer, reserving the buttermilk for later use.  I rinsed the fresh butter twice with cold, filtered water, pressing it into the sieve to release any extra moisture.  I then formed it into a long log, wrapped it in parchment paper and stuck it in the fridge overnight.  In the morning I took it out, cut it into smaller pieces, wrapped it decoratively and headed proudly off to the swap.  No surprise- my farm-fresh unsalted butter was a big hit!