‍WHAT IS BUTTERMILK?

HOW IS IT MADE?

IS IT TASTY? HOW DO WE USE IT?

‍Buttermilk is a by-product of producing butter, a pretty HOT topic in this new world of sustainable kitchens we live in. (For example the buttermilk we use to make the restaurant’s Soda bread is a by-product of the cultured butter they make, which is served with Soda bread. All very cyclical and pleasing but the reality is that the boys downstairs jump kilos of the stuff at random intervals - thankfully I learnt that buttermilk freezes and defrosts for use happily- You just need to make sure to whisk it to bring it all together as the water and fats will seperate during this freezing and defrosting process.)

BUT HOW IS BUTTERMILK MADE?

Buttermilk is the liquid left over from the churning process of butter (or aggressive whisking, if your kitchen doesn’t have a butter churn….no kitchen has a butter churn), this liquid typically is then fermented[1] to thicken it (or went sour before the times of refrigeration). It may seem strange to use the ‘left over’ juices from butter production but buttermilk has been consumed for centuries, perhaps more as a home-made fermented dairy drink. It’s only recently (last 100 years or so) that buttermilk has been produced and sold commercially.

AND WHAT ABOUT FOR BAKING?

For baking, and using at home, the benefits of using buttermilk over other dairy products is the sour taste it brings HELPING TO MODERATE SWEETNESS but also the lower fat content HELPING OUR WAISTLINES.  I’ve included my favourite recipes using buttermilk (You can always swap it out for low fat yoghurt or even sour cream if you wanted to have a play around). If you’ve not made your own buttermilk, but want to follow the follow recipes, you can use shop bought.

‍ [1]Nowadays buttermilk is ‘cultured’ – a more controlled way of incubating the bacteria.