European Butter Vs Our American Butter
Decorating By JavaJunkieChrissy Updated 16 Apr 2007 , 1:38pm by snarkybaker
Today at the grocery store I was looking at the butter and I noticed European butter. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between this and the regualr butter that we can usually buy. The had both salted and unsalted Euro. butter.
Would this European butter be nice to bake with...cake, cookies and what about making my IMBC with it???
TIA,
Chrissy
I've been curious about this too, so I decided to do some Googling. 
Here's the answer, from www.wholefoods.com:
Butter is churned from concentrated cream and, by law, must have a fat content of at least 80%. Its excellent flavor makes it a favored spread or topping as well as a good cooking medium, though it doesn't stand up to heat as well as oils. Butter is available lightly salted and unsalted. Salt enhances flavor and extends storage life. Salted butter will keep for 2 to 3 months in the refrigerator compared to 3 to 4 weeks for unsalted butter. Keeping butter at room temperature is not recommended. Other types of butter include:
European butter has a slightly higher amount of butterfat (up to 84% compared to the 80% in American butter) which gives it a richer taste.
I live in Europe, and our butter all contains 80% fat (at least in this country!), and, obviously, as a scratch baker I use it all the time!
I live in Europe, and our butter all contains 80% fat (at least in this country!), and, obviously, as a scratch baker I use it all the time!
Well, how can you go wrong when you are smart enough to like Bon Jovi too. 
There is a European-style butter churned here in the US called Plugra. It is higher in butterfat content. I use it to bake my Danish Butter Braids with during the holiday season. It makes a great deal of difference, as it has a more distinct butter flavor to it.
Theresa
Because it is so much more expensive here, I use it only in recipes where 'butter' is the dominant flavor, such as Butter cookies that don't have added flavors.
It would lose value in baked goods with other flavors, such a chocolate or almond or spices.
I tried it in side-by-side comparisons of a shortbread cookie (butter, flour sugar) You could tell the difference, but it was fairly subtle. If they weren't side-by-side, I am not sure most people could tell the difference. And the cost makes if fairly prohibitive.
I use only Land O Lakes butter in all of my baked goods! 
Although I use an 84% European style butter from Vermont, good regular butter is fine. It is MUCH more important to have FRESH butter for things like butter cookies and IMBC than it is to have fancy butter.
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