When the Damsel said she had a post that needed to ripen, maybe you thought she was being metaphorical.
Nope. For real. She was making sour cream, and she is totally excited about how easy it is.
This is all you need. Heavy cream and cultured buttermilk.
The Damsel looked for brands that didn’t have a bunch of additives, because sometimes those can fool with the results of projects like this. Plus natural is nice. This cream had nothing but “heavy cream” on the label. The buttermilk choices at the Damsel’s neighborhood shop were few, so she closed her eyes and hoped for the best.
The Damsel has learned there is a difference between “cultured” buttermilk and the liquid that is remaining when you make butter. That will be another Old School lesson, but for now, buy some that has the word “cultured” on the label.
Pour a cup of cream into a container. It can be anything, even a bowl. The Damsel used a pint jar. A pint equals two cups, so she filled the jar half full.
Measure two tablespoons of buttermilk into the container. When the Damsel was researching this, she found recipes that called for anything between 1 and 4 tablespoons, so she walked the line.
Mix well. Or shake to mix, if you’ve used a jar. Then all you do is set it somewhere warm-ish. The Damsel just put it on the kitchen counter. Just leave it. Walk away. And believe in the sour cream that is to come. It will take about 24-36 hours.
The Damsel hates waiting. But she was pleasantly surprised that this, unlike some other things she’s experimented with for the Old School, worked perfectly.
Smooth, creamy, tangy sour cream. A little softer in consistency than store-bought, but not much. One source said the longer you let it sit, the thicker it will get. The Damsel assumes it will also get sourer. She put hers in the fridge after 30 or so hours because she liked the taste at that point.
This isn’t cheaper than buying sour cream. It cost perhaps $1.50 to make. But isn’t it nice to know that if there’s a disaster and you can’t go to the market, you can still have sour cream? All you need is a cow. No problem!
