The best cream to make butter with is "heavy cream" or heavy whipping cream with at least 36% to 40% milkfat as well as no added stabilizers or thickeners.
If you want to get the richest flavor, you should use fresh, raw cream such as from Jersey cows.
And avoid any ultra pasteurized creams, as they can also struggle to separate properly.
The higher fat content of the cream for making butter with means a higher butter yield.
So always check the nutrition label of the cream for the highest fat percentage in the cream that is available.
Avoid any additives in the cream for making butter, like thickeners such as carrageenan or stabilizers as they can disrupt the churning process of the butter and even ruin the butters texture.
You should also avoid using ultra pasteurized cream for making butter as while the ultra pasteurized cream is great for food safety and shelf life, the ultra pasteurized cream also takes much longer to churn when making butter and can also produce a cooked, less fresh flavor.
Instead when using cream for making butter, opt for standard pasteurized or raw cream.
And for traditional, sweet butter, you should use fresh, plain cream.
But for tangy, European style butter, you should use cultured cream or make your own by adding a spoonful of some plain yogurt to your cream and allow it to sit overnight before churning.
To churn the butter, let the cream come to room temperature slightly of around 65 F, and then pour it into a stand mixer, food processor or mason jar.
Then whip the cream on medium-high.
And the cream will pass through the whipped cream stage before it separates into yellow butter solids and liquid buttermilk.
And then drain and rinse, by pouring off the buttermilk.
Then place the solid butter in ice cold water and knead it until the water runs clear to prevent the butter from spoiling quickly.
And then season the butter by mixing in fine sea salt to taste, shape the butter into a log, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.