A few things we know for sure: European butter is more expensive than other store-bought butters. It also tastes incredible on a baguette and often has a deep yellow color and can be crumbly and dense. But do any of these things actually mean anything when you're baking?
Cultured or European-style butter (as it's often called) is made more slowly than other store-bought butters so the cream has time to develop in flavor. The main difference between these European-style butters and all of the rest is the fat content: they have a 83-86% fat content while non-cultured butters hover right around 81%. And butter with less fat contains more water which can literally act as a binding agent gluing down layers of dough and, all the while, creating a tougher pastry.
So science aside: if you're making simple cookies or brownies, I wouldn't splurge on European-style butter. But if you're making pastry or laminated dough that will have layers (croissants or pie dough, for example), European-style butter will make a big difference. Because it has less water it'll remain solid for a longer period of time in the oven, resulting in many more layers. When baking pies at home, I love using Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter. If your Trader Joes is anything like mine here in California, you can find it for a reasonable price . You'll notice the difference in your pie crusts right away: Guaranteed.
Related: So Delicious! Kerrygold Irish Butter
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Why not *really* splurge and get ghee if you want fatty-fat. Or make your own clarified butter?
I love Kerrygold for eating (Costco frequently has it at a very good price as well). I usually use a hand formed local brand of butter for baking--it is kind of half way between American and European butter but is reasonably priced. Of course I live in the dairy mecca of Wisconsin, so we have a lot of local dairy available.
For baking and buttercreams I go generic grocery store brand butter with butter centric baked goods being the exception. Shortbreads, laminated doughs, or some special type of butter cookie, I'll use the good stuff (usually Kerrygold here too) but not for the water content- though that is very true- but for the taste. American, average store butter is essentially flavorless compared to a good European butter.
It's the thing I miss most about Europe -- French butter.
Nothing compares to French butter.
Why can't we have locally produced cultured butter that is as good?? Because since returning, I have only bought cultured butter, but it is not even close to being as good as even the French grocery store brands, much less the finer artisanal products and small regional brands.
And I can't imagine not going with a good cultured butter for buttercream (but then, by buttercream, I also mean the hot sugar syrup/egg yolk/butter buttercream) since it is such a key ingredient.
We're having a shortage here in Norway, that certainly jacked up the price. As to flakyness, if you want layers, et. al. maybe use trans fats as opposed to saturated fats found in butter. Very unhealthy but Cinnabon wouldn't use anything else.
Trader Joe's has great prices on Kerrygold. European butter really does make a huge difference in baking. After reading this, I'll definitely use it in the next pie crust I make.
Why splurge on European butter when you can make your butter own easily with a stand mixer? I use heavy cream from a local farm and not only do I have butter with a higher fat content, I have buttermilk that I can use for whatever I need, and it costs less than any butter in the grocery store.
I find that a good butter does make a difference in taste (not so much texture) in a butter cookie. You can see it in people's reaction when they bite into a cookie. I love Kerrygold, too, but even better is finding a local, organic cultured butter. As far as pastry, I thought it was the evaporation of the water in the layers of butter that separates the layers as they bake into crackly-crunchy pastry. The butter holds the structure in place until the flour is baked, and then the evaporating water leaves a little air pocket that creates flakiness. I think the problem with too much water in pastry comes from over-developing gluten in the flour. I'm no food scientist, that's just what I understood. Happy baking, whatever butter you use (or even not)!
The correct answer is: sometimes.
It depends on what you want your butter to do. Do you want more of the fat properties of butter or more that you get from the liquid and protein structure? I feel strongly that European-style butter is the only butter for pie crusts but, beyond recipes where you specifically want that higher fat content, the freshness of your butter is what really counts. Fresh butter, regardless of style, will work better, structurally, than less fresh butter and taste better every single time, no matter if it's European-style or not.
I was puzzled by the term "European" butter, so I had a look in my fridge: In Germany, cultured butter doesn't seem to have a higher fat content, butter just comes in two varieties - "sour cream butter" (cultured) and "sweet cream butter". Sour cream butter has the stronger taste and that's what I would use for anything that is supposed to taste like butter.
I did not even know there was such a thing. Yikes. Will need to look at the store
I live in Ireland, where the Kerrymaid is made (lol that's the TV add) And I have to say I prefer unsalted French butter for baking and salted Irish for the cooking, the frying and dripping over stuff. I have never had non European butter
Of course European butter will cost more if you're buying it imported from Europe.
European-STYLE butter should cost about the same if you're buying it in the country of origin, and if you're in the US that isn't very difficult to find anymore.
I used Kerrygold over thanksgiving and Christmas at my mother-in-laws to make pie crust and was amazed by how easily and crack-free it rolled out. I suspected the higher fat content was the reason, so now I know I wasn't imagining things!
Good to know about the pie crusts. Making a real pie crust is on my list of things-to-do this year, so I'll keep that in mind when I finally make it.
I will definitely keep this in mind! I'm still a baking novice and I started having pastry/problems a little while ago and I couldn't figure out what the problem was. I almost gave up and tried shortening. Thanks for steering me in a better direction!
When I visited the butter museum in Cork, Ireland (yes, there's a butter museum!) they were playing old TV adds for Kerrygold and one of the slogans was, "Please, don't cook with Kerrygold." I think it was supposed to convey the idea that Kerrygold was more flavorful than other butters and shouldn't be wasted if its flavor might be lost in cooking!
Seriously? First I go on Apartment Therapy and they're talking about walking cats on a lead as a good lifestyle for them. Now you guys are talking about using imported, heavy, refrigerator needing butter instead of locally produced stuff. I thought this website was at least vaguely environmentally minded. Now I realise you're all just bonkers.
And if you're pastry is coming out tough, it probably has more to do with how you're making it.
I can't stand those people who think they are so environmentally friendly that they can't even bear to read an article on imported butter. Just stop using computer...it saves electricity and saves environment.
@MSCHATELAINE - French butter. Yes. I should head over there and eat some...