Ingredients
Base
- 500 mldouble cream
- 3 tbspcultured buttermilk or live sour cream, as starter
- 150 gunsalted butter, very soft
- 1 tspsalt
To flavour
- 1 tbspcaraway seed, crushed
- 2 tbspchopped dill or chives
- 1 clovegarlic, crushed, optional
To serve
- hot boiled potatoes in their skins
- rye bread
Directions
- Warm the cream to 24°C (75°F), stir in the starter, cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature for about 24 hours until thick and pleasantly sour.
- Chill the soured cream thoroughly. Cold cream whips and holds; warm cream splits into butter and buttermilk, which is the opposite of what you want here.
- Put the very soft butter in a bowl and beat it until pale and light.
- Now add the cold soured cream a spoonful at a time, beating well after each addition. This slow incorporation is the whole technique — added all at once the mixture curdles and will not come back.
- Traditionally this is done with a wooden spoon in a wooden bowl for the better part of an hour, and the slowness is not superstition: it is what keeps the emulsion together.
- Beat in the salt, crushed caraway, herbs and garlic.
- Chill for an hour. It should be thick, glossy and spreadable, somewhere between whipped butter and thick cream.
- Serve at room temperature, spooned generously over hot boiled potatoes so it melts into them, with rye bread alongside.
Technique
- Soft butter, cold cream, added slowly. Get any of those three wrong and it splits.
- If it does split, warm it very slightly and beat hard — it will sometimes come back. If it does not, you have made a herb butter, which is no disaster.
- It is meant to be poured over hot potatoes, not spread cold. That is the dish.
Substitutions
- Crème fraîche in place of souring the cream yourself.
- Live sour cream as the starter.
- A stand mixer on low, which works but takes the ceremony out of it.
Variations
- A plain version with only salt and caraway, which is the oldest form.
- Some Samogitian households add a little curd cheese for a firmer kastinys.
History
A Samogitian dish churned slowly in a wooden bowl until thick; it was served to guests as a mark of a prosperous household.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kastinys?
Kastinys is a cheese & dairy from Lithuania: whipped sour cream churned with butter, poured over hot potatoes. A Samogitian dish churned slowly in a wooden bowl until thick; it was served to guests as a mark of a prosperous household.
How long does Kastinys take to make?
Kastinys takes 30 min plus 24 hours souring of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes makes about 500 g. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Kastinys?
Yes, within limits. Crème fraîche in place of souring the cream yourself. Live sour cream as the starter. A stand mixer on low, which works but takes the ceremony out of it.
What is the most important thing to get right in Kastinys?
Now add the cold soured cream a spoonful at a time, beating well after each addition. This slow incorporation is the whole technique — added all at once the mixture curdles and will not come back.
