The Sandpoint Eater: Batter up!

By Marcia Pilgeram
Reader Columnist

Remember the Willie Nelson song, “To All the Girls I Left Behind?” Me? I’m singing the blues about all the cheeses (and sausages) I recently left behind in Paris. I may indeed have had some contraband in my bag on the way home from Spain last spring, which resulted in a threat of losing my Global Entry status if it happened again. So, sadly, on my most recent trip to Paris, I left all the savory sausages, pâté and unpasteurized cheeses for window shopping only. I was more or less (mostly less) content with shopping for chocolates, pasteurized cheeses and butter. But that butter! 

French butter may be the best in the world, and that’s a strong statement coming from someone who also adores Irish butter. Many butter buffs claim Jean-Yves Bordier, founder of Le Beurre Bordier, produces the best butter in France. 

Bordier still uses the traditional method of kneading butter with a teak frame and wheel. Salt in butter is a preservative, and Bordier’s is added by hand. Unsalted butter does not stay as fresh, and it’s a good idea to wrap it well and store it in the freezer if it won’t be used in two to three weeks. He makes customized compound butter flavors for many of the Michelin-star restaurants in France. 

To this day, freshly baked bread and good butter are among my favorite foods. My mantra, “Please pass the bread basket,” can often be heard wherever I dine. I was never a fan of margarine; yet, when I married, I brought my butter to a household of soft-spread margarine fans, served at the long ranch table in huge tubs speckled with past spreaders’ crumbs. 

My son Zane went to the dark side, and he and his sister Ryanne would engage in sibling spats about the merits of their favorite. Ryanne must have been born to be a social scientist because, in the early ’90s, Zane and Ryanne called random people from our small phone book to survey them on the question of margarine vs. butter. I don’t remember the outcome of this pre-internet research (though I am certain Ryanne would). 

My mother was a butter fan, too, and used to make a toast spread for us that consisted of soft butter, powdered sugar and cinnamon. I occasionally make it, and it’s still just as delicious as in my childhood memories. 

Alas, another childhood butter memory did not have a happy ending. I was preparing (yet another) fancy dinner for my lucky family and decided we must have little molded butter pats as I’d seen in Mom’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking cookbook. I melted the butter, carefully poured it into some little metal molds and, with great anticipation, placed them into the fridge to chill.  Later, I learned that one should use softened butter, not melted butter. I had a tremendous mess of milky-liquid and salty, congealed solids. 

Fortunately, I was home alone and tossed the whole mess before the budget-minded people who purchased said butter were any wiser. 

Since then, you’ll find molded or curled butter pats at nearly all my dinner tables. Silicone molds work best with softened (remember, not melted!) butter. At Thanksgiving, I skip molds as our butter tradition is shaking ice-cold cream in a chilled mason jar until we have a nice ball of butter ready for kneading and salting, and placing it on the table as a simple rustic-looking ball. 

Besides compounded butter (salted or unsalted), butter recipes can call for clarified, melted, whipped, softened, browned, or frozen and grated butter. Isn’t it amazing that this simple, one-ingredient mainstay can be the star of so many sublime recipes, from cakes, cookies, and crusts to sauces, reductions and batters.

I’ve been making hot buttered rum batter for years, and honestly, most any butter will work for this classic batter. Hot buttered whiskey is also delicious, especially with Irish whiskey (ask me how I know). Santé! Cheers! Sláinte! And may all of your holidays be bright!

Hot buttered rum batter

Yields four cups (if you don’t sample too many times while making). Don’t forget the kiddos! You can substitute alcohol and water with hot apple cider. Use good ice cream (no reduced fat or sugar here) for best results. Make sure it doesn’t contain chunks. Vanilla, vanilla bean and caramel work best. Makes for great gift giving, too.

Ingredients:

For the batter: 

• 1 cup unsalted butter

• 1 cup of light brown sugar 

• 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp nutmeg (try to use fresh grated)

• ½ tsp cloves

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 pint of good quality ice cream (Häagen-Dazs or Godiva) 

For the hot buttered rum:

• 2 tbsp batter

• 6 oz boiling water

• 1 ½ oz rum (or whiskey)

• Sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg 

Directions:

For the batter, place the ice cream on your kitchen counter and let it sit for 30 minutes until softened.

Melt butter slowly in a heavy sauce pan. When melted, slowly pour in sugars. Whisk very gently (so hot butter does not splash). Once well combined, bring back to gentle boil. Whisk in cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Turn off heat and continue to whisk for a few minutes. Add the ice cream and whisk until well combined. Place in a container, cover and refrigerate. Once chilled, whisk again (spices will settle to bottom). Pour into small Mason jars and freeze.

For the hot buttered rum, in a medium-sized mug or heat proof glass, combine 2 tbs of batter with 6 oz ounces of boiling water. Add a generous jigger of rum (or whiskey). Stir. Sprinkle with cinnamon or grated nutmeg. Add a cinnamon stick swizzle. 

Store the batter in freezer-safe jars. Freeze it for up to 3 months.