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Did someone say boozy butter?

Brandy and butter — a match made in heaven!

If you want to make your year end merry, you have got to try making this brandy butter. It is rich, fragrant and oh-so-indulgent! It is easy to make a batch and store in the fridge. Smother it on bread, cake or just eat a spoonful just like that. 

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter (1 block)

2 shots of brandy (more to taste)

¼ cup (60g) brown sugar 

1 generous pinch of salt 

1 Tbsp vanilla extract/one vanilla pod, seeds scooped out 

Lime/lemon/orange zest

Method:

1. Slice your butter block and place into a small pot 

2. Turn the heat to medium 

3. Allow the butter to melt for 3 minutes

4. Turn the heat down, allow the flakes inside the butter to darken for 5 minutes

5. Now turn off the heat and add sugar. Mix well 

6. Pour the mixture into a medium-sized bowl 

7. Add brandy, vanilla and salt 

8. Grab a slightly larger bowl, which will nicely hug your butter bowl

9. Fill the large bowl ½ way up with ice cold water 

10. Alternatively you can allow your butter to harden in the fridge, for 1 hour 

11. Use an electric whisk and keep moving around the bowl until the butter starts to get pale and thick

12. Remove the medium-sized bowl from the ice water 

13. Use a spatula and scrape down any un-whisked hardened bits of butter

14. Whisk again (out of the ice water) for 3-5 minutes until cloud-like and pure fluff

15. Taste the butter, if you think it is not sweet or salty enough, add some extra honey or salt and whisk again

16. Use a large spatula to scoop out the whipped butter, try and keep it tall, to enhance the fluffiness of the texture

17. Place onto a board and finish with Lime, Orange, or Lemon zest 

18. Leave in a cool place (if you leave it in the fridge it will not be creamy, but it can re-whipped as many times as you’d like)

— Aatreyee Mohanta