Unsalted butter
Butter is a dairy product usually made from cows milk. It is made by separating the fats from the milk. It is used a lot in cake recipes, icing sugar and cooking in general.
Unsalted butter is a dairy product which is used in a huge array of recipes! It is usually made from cow’s milk and is either pale yellow or white.
Baking and butter seem to go hand in hand. Whether you are whipping up a batch of your favourite chocolate chip cookies or perfecting that Victoria Sponge recipe your grandmother gave you, butter will more than likely be present!
Most recipes will call for unsalted butter rather than salted butter, this may be because;
- It’s fresher – Salt is a preservative which extends the shelf life of a lot of products, unsalted butter is usually fresher as it has a shorter shelf life.
- Taste – Using unsalted butter gives you more control over the taste. Allowing you to add salt later without over-salting a mixture.
One of the favourites uses for butter is for buttercream! Buttercream is made by whisking room temperature butter and icing sugar until soft and creamy.
When converting cups to grams remember that 1 cup is equal to 227g.
Nutritional value of butter
Butter is about 80% fat, and the rest is mostly water there is usually about 717 calories per 100g of butter. Basically, it is the fatty portion of milk that has been isolated from the protein and carbs. Butter is one of the most complex of all dietary fats, containing more than 400 different fatty acids.
Butter contains vitamins A, D, E, B12, and K2. However, the benefits are quite small because we usually consume butter in such small quantities these vitamins don’t contribute much to our total daily intake.
Butter and coffee
We can’t talk about butter without mentioning one of the most divisive topics in recent years… butter in coffee. Yes, you read that right, it’s made by combining coffee and butter in a blender and drinking it while hot!
It’s said this combination keeps you feeling fuller for longer, eases caffeine sensitivity and increases energy levels.
Replacing butter
When considering substitutes, the closest alternative has to be margarine. However, depending on your recipe you can use a huge array of replacement such as; Applesauce, vegetable oil, buttermilk, mashed avocado, greek yogurt and coconut oil.
