#Milk emulsion butter how to#
#Milk emulsion butter plus#

A touch of annatto extract, a fat-soluble natural coloring, is often added, especially in the winter when most breeds of cow produce paler fat because their diets are devoid of carotene-rich, new-growth vegetation.įats and water, of course, won't ordinarily mix.

#Milk emulsion butter plus#

I'll get to these two phenomena later, but, first, a little background.īutter is a complex blend of fat (by law, at least 80 percent in the United States and 82 percent in the European Union) and water (16 percent to 18 percent), plus 1 percent or 2 percent protein (mostly casein) and perhaps 1.5 percent to 3 percent salt, which both kicks up the flavor and wards off rancidity. Butter contains a relatively large amount of water, and it's the water that gives butter its unfatlike properties, such as being able to bring a sauce together and frothing up when heated in a saute pan. Butter's magic arises from its uniqueness, not only in its history and renowned flavor but in its composition. Why does butter do it?Ĭalling butter a fat is like calling the Queen Mary 2 a transatlantic ferry. Adding any other fat, such as olive oil, doesn't do that.

So in accordance with French culinary custom, I 'finish' the sauce by adding a 'nut' of butter and whisking it in lightly, whereupon the sauce magically thickens. Because it has the right texture, it can create or even increase the amount of friction needed for a good emulsion.When I make a sauce by deglazing the pan with wine or stock after sauteing meat, the result is usually too thin for my taste, even after reducing it. As a result, it’s quite normal to see the mixture separate early in the process.Īlthough it might look worrying, this texture is a sign that you aren’t adding water too quickly, and that the mixture is still perfectly viscous and elastic. They bond together the aqueous (hydrophilic) and lipid (lipophilic) parts, helping to make the emulsion more stable.įor ganaches or pralinés, we have to do the process for a mayonnaise in reverse (by slowly enriching the fats with water), so we start with a saturated fat phase. Surfactants are contained in milk or cream proteins. Making a good chocolate emulsionįor an emulsion to work, it needs to be stirred vigorously at the start of the mixing process, but it also requires surfactants and lecithin, chocolate’s emulsifying ingredient. You can make an emulsion with any type of chocolate, such as Dulcey, white or dark chocolate. The oily part, called the fat-based phase, can be any oily ingredients your recipe may include, such as chocolate, praliné, almond paste, butter, oil and, of course, cocoa butter.Īs always in chocolate- and pastry-making, its vital to precisely and constantly check the mixture’s temperature. All these ingredients are mostly water (although the exact percentage can vary). The aqueous phase might include milk, cream, fruit purée, syrup, crème anglaise, infusions or water. Technically, the word “aqueous” is used for the water-based part of the mixture.

#Milk emulsion butter how to#

How to make an emulsionĮmulsions are prepared using at least two ingredients with different characteristics, one fat-based, the other water-based. Emulsions also have a role to play in preserving chocolate bonbons.Īlthough emulsions have been used for a very long time, lots of people struggle with the technique. A part of the vast majority of recipes, emulsions give lots of recipes and creations the creamily melt-in-the-mouth, thick, smooth texture that consumers expect and makers aim for.

Without going into technical detail, we will show you how to master this technique for successful desserts.Įmulsifying is an almost daily task for chocolatiers and pastry chefs. The idea of an emulsion is to mix together at least two ingredients would naturally repel each other, such as water and oil.