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I’ve always loved flavored butters. I think it all started as a teenager when we’d get bagels at our tennis tournaments and there were always some sort of flavored cream cheese and butters. It was usually the honey butter that’d lure me in. And I’d be there all lady-like in my tennis skirt, smothering way too much honey butter on this un-toasted (the worst!) bagel. The butter made everything better. As it usually does.
My flavored butter love affair continued in the PANCAKES book. One of my favorite recipes in that book isn’t a pancake recipe, but actually the recipe for Berry Butters. That recipe goes something like this: you mash up berries, fold them into softened butter and add a few pinches of salt. The berries are very present in the butters and it’s nice.
This recipe right here is a lil’ different. The strawberries are made into a purรฉe and slowly worked into the butter, so they incorporate completely. There’s honey for some added sweetness and the black pepper acts as this spicy little kick that works so wonderfully.
This weekend you should take an hour and make some biscuits (these biscuits, specifically) and make some dang flavored butter. I mean, look at this color. It’s just so pretty.
Black Pepper Strawberry Butter
Ingredients
- 1/2 pint strawberries, about 5 to 7 strawberries, stems trimmed
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, puree the strawberries until very smooth. Run the purรฉe through a strainer and discard the pulp. It should measure out to be a little over 1/4 cup of puree. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a medium bowl, add the butter, honey and 2 tablespoons of puree. (We're going to incorporate this slowly.) Using a hand-mixer or a stand-up mixer, beat until smooth. At first the mixture will separate but the more you beat the butter, the more it'll come together. Once it's combined, add an additional 1 tablespoon at a time, adding about 3 more tablespoons. This will total to be about 1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon. Give it a taste and add a bit more honey or salt, if you like.
- Serve at room temperature, if you like, or you can transfer it to the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.
hi,
I am really interested in this recipe but I am vegan.
How can I make this recipe vegan?
also, how does it taste? I mean the strawberry and black pepper together is something unique. I never had anything like that before. Is it sweet and spicy? is it just sweet?
Thanks!
you can probably use Earth Balance! ๐
hi this looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it.How long does it keep?
It should last about a week!
What is the thought behind using unsalted butter, then adding salt?
I bake a lot so I always buy unsalted butter. There are a few thoughts when using unsalted butter. 1. It’s usually fresher. A lot of dairy producers use salt as a way of preserving the butter. Hence, the reason why salted butter lasts longer. 2. I like to be able to control the amount of salt in everything, included flavored butter. To this, I added the amount of salt I desired. But, if you only have salted butter in your fridge, then feel free to use it!
Very cool. Love the idea for brunch.
And I also fell into the honey butter trap when I played tennis. That, with a cinnamon crunch bagel was fondly referred to as “Cake and frosting.” Maybe it’s a tennis thing!