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1
Stir together the cream and buttermilk in a bowl and let stand at room temperature to ripen until the mixture becomes thick and sour-smelling (16 to 24 hours).
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2
Cover tightly and refrigerate for several hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.
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3
Place in refrigerator a food processor fitted with the steel blade, 2 metal mixing bowls and a wire-mesh strainer in the refrigerator.
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4
Have ready 2 to 3 cups of ice water.
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5
(Cold is your friend here, warmth the enemy.)
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6
Set up the food processor and add half the cream (or all of it, if you have a machine with at least 11-cup capacity).
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7
Leave the rest in the refrigerator.
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8
Begin processing and watch closely as the cream thickens and whips.
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9
(It will take longer with homogenized and/or ultrapasteurized cream.)
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10
Soon after this stage, within a few minutes or even seconds, the cream will start to look less white.
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11
As soon as you see it breaking into something slightly granular, stop the machine and take a look.
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12
Cautiously proceed until the cream is quite definitely separated into cloudy whitish buttermilk and clumps of ivory or yellow butter.
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13
Set the strainer over a chilled bowl and dump in the contents of the processor, scraping out any clinging butter particles with a rubber spatula.
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14
Put the strainer and bowl in the refrigerator while you repeat the processing with the rest of the cream.
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15
Add the second batch of butter to what you have in the strainer.
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16
Measure the strained buttermilk, pour it into a storage container and chill in the refrigerator.
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17
Turn out the butter into another bowl and add roughly as much ice water -- straining out the ice -- as you have buttermilk.
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18
Work the butter into a mass with a strong wooden spoon or spatula.
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19
Drain off as much liquid as you can and go on working the butter.
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20
You will see it becoming smoother and waxier under the spoon, as the butterfat comes together in a continuous mass.
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21
When no more liquid seems to be coming out, pat it dry with paper towels, pack it into a small container and promptly refrigerate it, tightly covered.
