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French salted butter has garnered social media fame in recent years, with so many influencers posting about how to freeze it and bring it back in your suitcase from Paris that some U.S. grocery stores have started carrying it. As the name implies, salted butter has a high sodium-to-butter ratio. Trader Joe’s even has its own version of French cultured salted butter now. Another European butter darling, Irish butter, has also gotten its moment in the sun in recent years — we previously dissected the difference between Irish, American, and European butter for those curious — but all that love may be shifting across the European continent soon, as there’s a new butter in town that’s getting a lot of love stateside. We’re talking, of course, about German sour cream butter (Sauerrahmbutter) from the Asendorfer brand.
So, how is the German sour cream butter different than other butters out there? For starters, it has a slightly higher fat content of 82%. Most American brands sit around 80%. It’s also mixed with lactic acid bacteria during production and has more maturation time than normal butter, making it have a slightly acidic or sour taste. That sour taste is a personal preference, though. If it’s not for you, you can also find sweet cream-style German butter in some U.S. stores.
Where can you buy German butter in the US?
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The tricky part about German butter is that once you know it exists, you might want to go out and try it. However, the Asendorfer brand isn’t sold everywhere just yet, so you might have a hard time finding it. One store carrying it is the popular Texas grocery store Central Market, which has locations across the Lone Star State. You can also order it from German Speciality Imports to have it delivered directly to your door.
For the closest substitute, you can also look out for the label “cultured butter” in the butter section of your local supermarket. Cultured butter can have a similar taste to what you’d experience with sour cream butter on your morning toast and can be found at Whole Foods, Safeway, and other stores nationwide.
However, be extra careful if you’re baking or cooking and want to use these butters interchangeably. Thanks to its acidic flavor notes, sour cream butter can alter the taste of what you’re cooking, so it’s best suited for spreading on toast or adding to a savory pan sauce, not baking chocolate chip cookies. Now, check out our definitive ranking of grocery store butter brands to learn which ones we think are up to snuff.
Dining and Cooking