Salted Butter
Churned cream with salt added, at about 80 percent butterfat. Salted butter is the classic table butter: spreadable, seasoned, and the longest-keeping everyday butter.
Butter & Spreads
Every butter in every form, salted, unsalted, cultured, whipped, and clarified, plus cream cheese and dairy spreads. Butter is churned cream, one of the oldest dairy foods, and the working fat of the kitchen.
Unsalted Butter
Churned cream with no salt added: the baker's standard butter. Pure, sweet cream flavor, and full control of a recipe's seasoning.
Cultured Butter
Butter churned from fermented cream, in the French and northern European tradition. Tangy, rich, and complex, with a flavor plain butter does not have.
European-Style Butter
High-butterfat butter in the European style: 82 to 85 percent fat, less water than standard butter. The pastry butter, prized for laminated doughs and rich sauces.
Whipped Butter
Butter whipped with air until light and fluffy, sold in tubs. It spreads straight from the fridge and melts fast over hot food.
Brown Butter
Butter cooked until the milk solids toast and turn nutty: the French beurre noisette. Not a product but a preparation, made in minutes from any butter.
Ghee
Clarified butter from India, simmered longer than standard clarified butter so the solids toast lightly. Rich and nutty, shelf-stable, and built for high heat.
Cream Cheese
A soft, fresh, mildly tangy American cheese, spreadable straight from the package. The bagel's partner, and the base of cheesecake and cream cheese frosting.
Clarified Butter
Butter with its water and milk solids removed, leaving clear golden butterfat. It has a higher smoke point than whole butter and a clean, concentrated flavor.
Compound Butter
Softened butter beaten with herbs, aromatics, or sweeteners, then chilled in a log or tub. A slice melts over hot food as an instant sauce.
Garlic & Herb Butter
A compound butter of butter, garlic, and usually parsley and salt. It is the spread for garlic bread and the finishing butter for snails, steak, and shrimp.
Honey Butter
A sweet compound butter of butter whipped with honey and a pinch of salt. It is soft, spreadable, and made for warm breads.
Cinnamon Butter
A sweet compound butter of butter, cinnamon, and sugar, sometimes with a little vanilla. It melts into toast and warm rolls like a glaze.
Maple Butter
A compound butter of butter whipped with maple syrup. It is pale, sweet, and faintly woody, a New England and Canadian staple for pancakes and cornbread.
Lemon Butter
A compound butter of butter, lemon juice, and zest. It is bright and clean, made to melt over fish, shellfish, and vegetables.
Irish Butter
Butter made in Ireland from the milk of grass-fed cows, typically cultured and salted, with butterfat around 82 percent. It is deep yellow, dense, and rich.
Whey Butter
Butter churned from the cream that rises on whey left over from cheesemaking. It is slightly tangy, a little lower in fat than cream butter, and traditional in Britain.
Neufchâtel
A fresh, soft cheese in the cream cheese family, made with more milk and less cream, so it has about a third less fat. It is smooth, mild, and slightly grainier than cream cheese.
Whipped Cream Cheese
Cream cheese whipped with air (and sometimes a little milk) into a light, fluffy spread. It spreads straight from the fridge without tearing bread or bagels.
Beurre Blanc
A French butter sauce of wine, vinegar, and shallots reduced and whisked with cold butter. It is a sauce rather than a spread, but butter is its substance.