Brown butter refers to butter that is heated quickly in a sauté pan until the milk solids just turn golden brown; it is then used immediately for cooking. It is a delicate operation because if heated a few seconds too long, the butter solids turn black and an unpleasant bitter taste is all you have to work with. Brown butter has developed a cultlike following and is now made specifically to be used as a flavoring agent in nontraditional recipes from sweet to savory. While we were working on ideas for increasing our output of brown butter, Michael Laiskonis, pastry chef at Le Bernardin, blogged about his experiments with brown butter. He shared a technique of reducing heavy cream until it separated into clarified butter and milk solids. This led to a discussion in the blog comments about the best way to extract the most milk solids from dairy and how to get the best yield of brown butter solids to play with. The discussion culminated with a tip from Cory Barrett, the pastry chef at Cleveland’s Lola Bistro. He suggested using nonfat dry milk to increase the yield of caramelized milk solids, and recommended letting them brown slowly in butter, then steeping them overnight to increase the butter flavor. This is why we love the Internet. It brings like-minded people together. Thanks to Michael and Cory, we now have access to a new approach, which yields a bounty of brown butter solids to be integrated into innumerable dishes. For our brown butter solids, we melted 2 sticks (224 grams) of unsalted butter and added 1 cup (80 grams) of nonfat milk powder. One of our favorite uses for brown butter is this ice cream. Just wait until you taste it.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 1 quart
Ingredients
Brown Butter Puree
Preparation
Step 1
Combine the half-and-half, glucose, brown butter puree, agave nectar, and salt in a heavy-bottomed pot set over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the flavors marry for 20 minutes.
Step 2
Pour the mixture into a blender and puree until smooth. Strain the base through a fine-mesh conical strainer into a metal bowl set in an ice bath and let cool. Transfer the base to an airtight container and refrigerate. Let the base rest overnight to let the flavors mature.
Step 3
The next day, churn the base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Brown Butter Puree
Step 4
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan set over low heat. Add the milk powder and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the solids turn a rich caramel brown. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool. Let it infuse in a lidded container in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat the butter until it is just liquid and strain the solids from the mixture, reserving the fat separately to use for cooking like bacon fat.
Step 5
Measure out 1 cup (200 grams) of the brown butter solids and combine them with the agave nectar and water in a blender. Puree until smooth. Strain and reserve the puree. It can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
