Kefir, Butter, Creme Fraiche, Ice-cream,

I hope everyone has had a good weekend...Here; we have been blessed with an extra day with today being a public holiday. So tomorrow is the start of the working week for hubby and DS19......
With lots of wind and rain on and off over the weekend, I haven't been able to get to the markets, driving past to go somewhere else, there were only 4 stalls anyway due to the horrible weather we had.....So not being able to go find bargains to decorate the front veranda...I put myself to work on the cream I picked up on Friday.................

Thank-you everyone for the suggestions on what to make with the cream...I am happy with what I have done so far....here goes:

First up, I have been reading up on Kefir, and all it's benefits...I would prefer to be brewing the Water Kefir though, as I don't usually drink much milk....I also like the idea of having a ginger beer flavour, and other fruity fizzy drinks...I drink far too much fizzy drink, and would love to get off it. Over the next few weeks I will be trying to source some Water Kefir grains. I would prefer swap with someone for something, but at the moment, I only really have my soap...it's all natural, and is made from rendered beef fat...I also don't add any scents.

So I'm putting a call out for anyone who has some spare Water Kefir Grains....either dehydrated or simply washed from their supply. I am willing to swap for something, and this can be arranged via emailing me.

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#1 A Milk Kefir probiotic drink

Through much reading, I think this Kefir is not quite the real deal..and after making it, I think it is a form of Kefir but not with the results expected....there is a mecca of information on the original Kefir here.

The product I bought is a Kefir (yoghurt like) drink...After making it, it is still the same texture as the original milk....but it is definitely cultured. I tried the boys on it....and they scrunched up their nose....DS19 even felt the need to rinse out his mouth....lol....I tried to tell him to think of it as a thin plain yoghurt drink, but he insisted it was just soured milk.....I am drinking this for a few days, until I have half a glass left to make the next batch.

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#2 Homemade Butter

This is the whole reason I ordered the 2 Litres of fresh cream...I posted about having a new supplier for cream and was so inspired by Fiona at Inner Pickle I could hardly wait for the cream to arrive. As for all the lovely suggestions...it didn't make it any easier. 

I took the recipe from a book I am reading at the moment, which I borrowed from the library....I am waiting for another to arrive from a different library called The Home Creamery..which I think is where Fiona got her recipe from.

The book is called Homemade sorry about the order some of the photos..I'm having a few technical problems, so you will have to scroll down for a photo of the book. 

The book I am really after is the Readers Digest version of Homemade.....I believe this is a great source of reading material which has been highly recommended.

 Here are some photo's of my butter making...........

Over whipping the cream

Solids of butter with Buttermilk

 After straining the solids...I thought it would be a good idea to use the dough hook on my whizzer...to beat out any remaining buttermilk....It wasn't a good idea, as it seemed to whip it back into the butter.

 At this time you also need to wash any remaining buttermilk from the solids. this stops any buttermilk from spoiling in your lovely butter....after washing the butter, then add the salt...for this amount I used 1 teaspoon, as I found 1/2 teaspoon wasn't quite to my taste....I think though on using it now....I should have only added 3/4 teaspoon of salt...but you live and learn!
For extra photos of the butter making you will need to scroll down...sorry!

Adding the butter to some moulds.

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#3 Creme Fraiche or Sour Cream

heaps of Buttermilk after making the butter

After 24 hours, It had reached a sour I was willing to try....
Far different kind of sour than I had ever tried.
Not thickened much, but very sour, into the fridge it goes.

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#3 Homemade Vanilla Ice-cream

 

Straining the vanilla bean

Churning in the Ice-cream maker for 45 minutes

I placed a plastic bag on top, to avoid ice particles forming
before putting it into the freezer

 

Rinsing the butter with ice-cold water
to remove any residual buttermilk

Rinsing the butter......note the difference in the water after each rinse.

Leftover sticky date pudding with my ice-cream
more ice-cream than pudding, Yum!

Once again, sorry about the order of these photos....

Still to come.....my version of mashed potato....some buttermilk scones...and anything else I can think of......stay tuned...............