It always comes back to butter with me. My grandfather Elton was a champion butter maker, my own father was so happy when I took the job with Land O’Lakes. Grandpa Bakke passed away when I was very young, so I only have one clear memory of him- when he came to visit us in Buffalo at his last Thanksgiving. But I always knew that he was passionate about butter. The trophies were on our piano until Kyle went through his action figure stage and started breaking the tops off to play with them!

That passion for butter lives on in me, and when I tried a new butter from Wegmans, I was reminded of Suzanne Pecore’s SSP presentation on adding the 3 attributes of Balance, Harmony, and Blend to descriptive analysis panels (a quantitative sensory technique used to describe the sensory attributes of food products).

First off, a quick comment poll (ahem- lurkers too!)- who thinks they got the concept wrong? John Chilton (you need to specify when you are married to and work for a John) and I think this should be a spreading butter not a finishing butter. I wonder if they did any testing? Wider public- did you know that food companies spend a lot of time researching these things? When my job was product development, we would have spent the time to understand what the primary usage and secondary usages of this product would be? What other items you would use it with? What type of package you would want it packaged in? What the graphics should look like and on and on and on? All in conjunction with my primary work which would be- what texture should it have, what flavors, what aroma, what appearance…

And I will tell you- they got it all wrong. Sorry readers if you worked on this product. It might be because for me the primary application was spreading. Maybe it was wonderful on seafood or vegetables, but I am not going to use it that way.

So back to Harmony, Balance, and Blend:

I don’t have Suzanne’s definitions or incredibly useful graphics with me, but to define the concepts here are dictionary definitions:

Harmony- A arrangement of parts in agreement

Balance – A state of equilibrium

Blend – To mix smoothly and inseparably together

This butter had none of these. Harmony- The flavors were not arranged agreement. I think this can get at the character of the flavors. The developers had added a butter flavor. It was unnecessary. It covered up the delicious, subtle flavors of the actual butter. They also had added orange juice concentrate, but that made it too sour. Balance- There was way too much butter flavor and too much salt. They overpowered the other flavors. Blend- As I was picking up all the individual notes, it was clear the flavors had not mixed inseparably together.

I thought that maybe it was just an overall intensity issue, as this was intended as a finishing butter, and I was using it as a spread. So I mixed it with unsalted butter and low flavor olive oil. No dice, there was still way too much of that unpleasant, added butter flavor. I was going to need to start from scratch.

So here is Alyssa’s Orange Vanilla Butter Spread:

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter (Land O’Lakes actually sells half sticks 🙂 )
• 2 teaspoons low flavor oil (Extra light tasting olive oil or canola oil for example)
• 1 teaspoon orange peel
• 1/12 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (yes 1/12 not 1/2)

I tried the doctored Wegmans version and my version on Pumpkin Spice English Muffin halves for breakfast in a side by side comparison. I gave Wegmans the advantage by trying it first, and it was no comparison. Mine had that elusive Harmony, Balance, and Blend if I can toot my own horn, but then again, I had an extreme advantage. Working at Land O’Lakes, this is what I did day in and day out every day for almost 7 years. Yes, it was kind of limiting to have a small portfolio, but you can really become an expert at it. Also I was developing for a consumer panel of 1. The 1 being me. And I am a real expert at my own food preferences. 🙂

Having said that, I will put a plug in for my former employer and food scientists in general. 🙂 My ‘benchtop’ butter would not have a long shelf life. Flavor chemists correct me if I get this wrong, but I believe the terpenes in the orange peel will oxidize making those delicious fresh orange notes taste like pine trees after awhile. When you refrigerate my version, it’s still not very spreadable, but my good friends Ravin and Joe know just how to formulate and process butter and olive or canola oil to make it spreadable right from the refrigerator. So you can make it yourself, or you can use the wisdom of the experts. Your choice and either one is great! What a world we live in!

A note about this recipe. It is not quite as healthy as other recipes you find on my site. It is, however, high is something that John Chilton and I invented that shall heretofore be called the ‘Chilton ratio’. Chilton ratio = Deliciousness / Calories. High Chilton ratio foods can be paired with lower calorie foods to make them more palatable. This butter would pair nicely with a rye bread for example. Interesting fact- bacon is the highest Chilton ratio food known to man. Pair it with any food, and it is instantly delicious. Brussels sprouts = poster child of unpalatable food. Brussels sprouts + bacon = overnight food sensation.

Late breaking controversy to be addressed in the comments section- is there a higher Chilton ratio food? John Chilton points out that strawberries, while not quite as delicious as bacon, have a much lower calorie count. He fears maybe we got the equation wrong?!