We made butter this weekend using a method described in various places across the web. Very easy and very tasty.
We used a stand mixer with the whip attachment, but you can do it with a blender or maybe even a hand mixer.
Pour cream into bowl. You’ll want to place some plastic wrap over the bowl, because it will splash. Whip the cream on medium-high and well past the whip cream phase (about 6-8 minutes); the cream will become yellow and have a pebble-like consistency. At this point the liquid will start to separate out and splash up. Stop the mixer. Using a second bowl to catch the liquid, empty the bowl into a fine mesh strainer or colander lined with cheese cloth. I found the cheese cloth approach easier and quicker. Wrap the mass in chesse cloth and squeeze out all the liquid. When it stops dripping you’re done. Make sure you get out as much liquid as possible. You should end up with about 1-2 cups of buttermilk (the liquid that you just whipped out of the cream) and a bit more than 1 pound of solid butter. Put the solid butter in an air tight container or wrap in plastic wrap. If you aren’t going to use it right away, it is best to freeze it. The buttermilk can be used in recipes calling for buttermilk.
I took about 1/4 pound of the butter and added salt after separating the liquid and had to work it in by hand. The rest I left unsalted. You can add the salt right after stopping the mixer and then whip the butter for another 30 seconds or so. Strain as above. This is easier, but probably makes the buttermilk useless.