How To Make A Compound Butter
Course – Dinner
Cuisine – French
Keyword – Compound Butter
Cook Time – 2 minutes
Serving – 1/2 Cup
Skill level – Easy
Author – Bobby Hicks
Cooking for family, guests or even yourself can feel pretty mundane or routine at times, right?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made a dish I love and felt so bored while
making it because it felt too routine or predictable.
But this isn’t meant to be a post about disappointment, but rather a tale sharing a simple and super effective way to surprise your family, guests and even yourself: Make a compound butter!
Okay, that doesn’t solve everything you’d need but it is an incredibly simple way to elevate almost any dish and make it more exciting as well. Cooking some salmon? Why not make an herby topper of lemon zest, parsley and dill to go with it?
Hankering for some Hanger steak? Chop up some rosemary, flakey sea salt and
some smooth butter for a beautifully seasoned dinner.
Making Parker House Rolls for some hungry guests? A little Honey and Orange
Zest goes a long way when turned into a Compound Butter!
There are a couple tips and tricks that popular fine dining restaurants and steak houses use to instantly elevate their dishes and one is making a compound butter for most dishes.
What is Compound Butter?
- A Compound Butter is softened butter that is blended with ingredients to
serve on top of other dishes. When it melts, the flavors of the infused
butter should compliment the meal with little fuss.
What can go in a Compound Butter?
- Almost anything can work in a Compound Butter! Use your imagination
and the next time you make a dish, get creative!
How long will a Compound Butter last in the refrigerator?
- Generally, it depends what is being used, but the rich fat of butter helps
to preserve most ingredients, especially when kept in a refrigerator, for
weeks.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Stick of Butter, Softened (1/2 Cup Butter) + anything you want.
- Examples: Herbs, citrus zest, spices, honey, salts, oils, etc.
METHOD
Allow your butter to come to room temperature and soften, but not melt.
Prepare your various additions, like freshly chopped herbs or zested citrus, and
portion out how much you’d like.
A general rule of thumb is to portion out 1/2 a stick of butter’s worth of ingredients, so if you’re chopping parsley, portion out about 1/4C or more before mixing.
If a stand mixer or KitchenAide is available, you can very quickly make a compound butter, but a simple mixing bowl will work as well!
Add the soft butter and extra add-ons, and beat on low speed or by hand with a
large wooden spoon until everything is incorporated.
Have a large sheet of plastic wrap available and turn the mixed butter onto the
plastic wrap.
Tightly roll the butter in the plastic, like a sausage and allow to firm up in a
refrigerator for 30 minutes.
When you’re ready to serve, cut 1T wheels of your Compound Butter for your
dishes!
It’s that easy!
NOTES:
- Generally avoid adding liquids to the butter, as butter is mostly fat, which
repels liquids. - A sweet Compound Butter is the fastest way to make almost any dessert
better – Fat + Sugar = Heaven. - Compound Butters are used for finishing dishes, so don’t bother using
this to cook with unless you just need to use it up. - This can also be done with Vegan Butters, Margarine and other shelf-stable fats.
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