For the first 30 years of my life, I had heard, but wasn’t curious in the least, about “Bruun Butter”. My mother used to mention it in almost hushed tones, as though it was the pinnacle of all butterdom. In a more practical application, you heard it often as this “Bruun Butter Cake” or that “Bruun Butter Cake”, depending on who made it. And all along, I assumed they were indeed still using Bruun butter, whatever that was. I didn’t even know where Bruun was. At some point, I naturally assumed Brun was a place, hence I started to think of it as “Brunn” as opposed to “Brun,” the former someplace in Germany or Austria. And German or Austrian butter seemed like a very plausible explanation, the “Mercedes” of butter as it were. Kind of like Vienna sausage, no? But, duh, that was a completely wrong assumption. In previous posts on this blog, readers have speculated that the butter was from Australia, maybe New Zealand, etc., but no one knew for sure. Several asked where they could buy it, and I myself was under the impression that it was still on the market but as with its reputation, just incredibly hard to find and only made available to the butter cognescenti of the highest cooking social strata in Manila. Another duh.
So here’s the story. And if you try to google “Brun Butter” many of the posts that show up are actually from marketmanila with no conclusive content. EXCEPT that there was indeed one reader, Apicio, who knew the real score and his tip on Brun being a Danish man rather than a city is what finally provided the key to unlocking the butter mystery. So in the early 1900’s in cosmopolitan Manila and haciendas near and far, they were lapping up canned “Brun” butter exported by the butter companies of the Dane industrialist Harald Plum. Described by Time Magazine article in 1929 as “Copenhagen’s butter Creosus”. That fascinating article (click link and read it, it is totally worth it) also describes how Plum tried to commit suicide in 1929 when his companies were on the verge of bankruptcy. I couldn’t find any other information as to if and when the companies actually did close their doors, and hence the export of the fable “Brun Butter”. Who knows, maybe the brand was sold, or some white knight came and saved their rear ends, paving the way for further exports of the butter that had become the darling of Philippine bakers. But it is entirely possible that starting the 1930’s, there was NO MORE Brun Butter on the market in Manila! If you know of someone who was alive then who can confirm up to when they were able to buy cans of actual Brun butter, I would appreciate your input and comments… Anyone with a photo of a used and preserved can of brun butter who is willing to share a photo would also be greatly appreciated. :)
So what’s the big deal with canned butter anyway? First of all, good butter is good butter… with a high fat content from happy cows. Denmark, England, France and other parts of Europe with extensive pastures, cool weather and hefty cows have traditionally produced some wonderful butters. In the last century or so, Australia and New Zealand have also produced great butter. But butter is perishable, and melts in warm weather, so the innovation of successfully canning butter for export and use in the tropics was a major innovation and something that made western style desserts even in constant 85-90F heat possible. Butter soon replaced lard as the fat of choice in many locally baked goods, and as refrigeration gained ground, fresher and lighter packaged butters made it to our groceries. But canned butter had a distinctive taste and aroma, maybe as a result of the canning process and possibly salt content. If you are more curious about canned butter, read this interesting post I found on the net.
Today, the most commonly available canned butter (and it isn’t that common to find it in stock either) is the Queensland Brand of New Zealand sourced butter. It is imported and distributed by the New Zealand Creamery, Inc. in Makati, for which I can’t find much information at all. It’s a bit odd that the can doesn’t categorically state what ingredients are in it. Sure it has pasteurized cream, but no salt? Coloring? And do I really believe it is manufactured “in our own creamery” as stated on the can, or that is was made specifically for them by a New Zealand based canned butter manufacturer? At any rate, it does provide that canned butter flavor that is slightly more intense than block butters you typically see in the grocery. This is good for things like pound cake, butter cakes, some cookies and even ensaimadas. I recently used this can for some torta experiments. It’s quite pricey, at PHP261.50 for 500 grams at Cash & Carry Supermarket, compared with PHP219.81 for the equivalent amount of Unsalted Anchor Butter (PHP99.80 for 227 grams), But the 19% premium might be well worth it if you are trying to replicate that fabled “Brun Butter” flavor in your baked goods.
65 Responses
I use this Queensland canned butter when making cheese pimiento spread
Just wanted to share this article on butter:
https://www.washingtonian.com/articles/bestbites/277.html
My mom used to use this for our Vietnamese sandwiches (Banh Mi), she said the flavor was better and it paired better with the pate. Who are we to criticize? I see it here in the States, but rarely where I do my shopping. Though if I went to visit my parents in CA, I know there is always a can at home or close by!
If you want sweet butter you can just buy a liter of 35%+ whipping cream and shake-shake-shake until you make it butter. You can save the liquid too and use it in place of water for breadmaking.
Hmmm… interesting suggestion from Mimi. Wonder if it would work the same way if carabao milk is used and if you churn it using a food processor.
Your butter will only be as good as the quality of your cream. High fat content desired. Incredible and tasty healthy diet for the cows…
I once complained to Anchor that their butter didn’t have a “buttery” flavor and was quite bland. I suspect that cows are fed grass in summer and hay in winter, so summer butter may be the better tasting one.
Butter contains oils that actually melt at different temperatures. There’s such a thing as fractionated butter, where the butter is separated into several components that melt at different temperatures. The high melting temp butters are used for ice creams and croissants, while the low temp butters are easier to spread on bread and maybe better to use with chocolates.
You’re right about Mom’s Brun butter being Danish. It wasn’t that it was superior butter, it was what was available without refrigeration and it had a distinct flavour from being brought to boiling and canned. Clarified butter or ghee also has a long shelf life. It’s all in the memory banks, not necessarily better, just nostalgia for what was considered premium for that time. Now I presume the New Zealand butter can you show just simply has decided to cash in on that reputation.
I do remember Mom’s having a tin in the late fifties, and I don’t know if that was from the same revered manufacturer before WW II. It certainly did not look like the one you picture, rather it was like ghee, oily and quite frankly repulsive.
There are so many delicious butters from Europe, “cured” for a slightly tart taste with distinctive flavours for specific terroirs unlike US butters that are churned for consistent
blandness and lower butterfat, usually 18-20% water plus 2% other solids compared to European butters which have 83 -85% butterfat or 15-17% water and 2 % other solids (the white bits that sink to the bottom or burn first if you melt the butter). Butter with high water is more malleable when cold and kind of waxy. US butters also have more air incorporated into it which makes it easier to spread. Butter is usually made from “manufacturer’s cream” which is 40% or more butterfat.
Less water content is useful in making pastry. More water makes it more spreadable for table use. Decent butter in Manila is hard to come by so I usually tuck several lbs. into my suitcase to bring to Manila.
MM, It’s about time to make your own butter and compare if it is better than anyone else that you’ve tried. To start with try on a good quality cream :)
Yes Marketman, please make your own butter! :-) I got curious and checked online. Seems so simple and fun. You just put cream in a KitchenAid mixer and whisk it until it separates. But you’re right. The key is in the cream.
If my memory serves me right, the last time I bought and ate Brun Butter was in 1987 or 1988. My default supermarket during that time was Tropical Hut in Scout Borromeo but am not certain if it was bought there.
New Zealand Creamery makes Che-Vital and even has its own FB page: https://www.facebook.com/NZC.inc
I remember this Queensland brand canned butter when I was growing up in Manila….my dad use to buy this=) I thought it was from Australia…duh!
yes, my mom always insisted that the best butter for butter cakes was brunn butter, while my dad was addicted to new zealand butter for his pan de sal.
i remember cow’s milk from a local farm, sodaco. the milk was so rich you could see blobs of fat (baby butter?) floating on top. my siblings and i always tried to get the blobs first. it was delicious, and i suppose if we had hand-held blenders then, it would have been easy to make butter.
sorry to disappoint you mm queensland brand butter is NOT made in new zealand but made in makati using curds possibly sourced from new zealand.
correction mm curds is not used but milk solids
I make my own butter when I feel like Suzie Homemaker… it’s easy enough, your choice of cream (I use the one from Straus Creamery) and whip it either on high or medium, depending on your stand mixer’s strength, for a while (add salt if you want) then as soon as the cream seperates and forms just churn on a lower speed. Seperate buttermilk and butter then knead… voila homemade butter!
I love this butter when I’m in Bacolod, I can only get this butter from one local supermarket, not even SM or Robinson is selling this. I love to eat this with manapla puto, and bob’s pandesal yum yum.
bobby, wow thanks for that clarification. Hmmm, I wonder what made me assume they just imported it. I didn’t realize they sold enough in the Philippines to manufacture it here…
I say that Queensland butter doesn’t taste as good now as it used to be. :(
MM,
How does this butter compare to Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter?
Hmmm… very interesting discussion. I have never used the Queensland brand of butter before (because of it’s steep price) and defaults to the Anchor Unsalted butter whenever I’m baking but I might just use it if the taste agrees with me. The Brun Butter sounds legendary! Unfortunately, it sounds even older or as old as my parents. :)
MM, I also grew up on my mom’s stories of that fabled Brun (or brunn? brün?) butter, and have always been curious about it. It’s supposedly superior above all butters that have been produced in the modern era. Now 83, my mom says she grew up on it and remembers spreading it on breads even after Liberation (1945) but strangely by the late 40s-early 50s, it had already disappeared. Yup it was in a tin can and it would keep even w/o refrigeration. Unfortunately, she can no longer remember how the can exactly looks like. She also thinks Brun butter is from Australia. As for the taste, she says Queensland doesn’t even come close. Maybe if someone can access US trade/economic reports on Manila of that era.
Bobby, Queensland butter, and Magnolia for that matter, are made locally with milk solids and AMF(anhydrous milk fat – 99.9% butteroil). I have bought AMF before to try it out for cooking, but it didn’t really provide the strong buttery taste I was looking for, so those milk solids are probably important as a flavor enhancer.
There’s a local butter made by Paco Magsaysay that is reputedly quite good, but I haven’t really tasted it. I don’t really suggest making butter from cream simply because cream is much more expensive than butter, especially when comparing their butterfat content by weight.
Butter from dried milk? Easier to transport, does not refrigeration enroute from New Zealand. So it’s rehydrated and churned in Makati into “butter” ? No wonder it doesn’t taste like Kerry Gold, which is pretty much considered premium.
Oh wow, thank you for this – your post brought back tons of good memories! My lola’s pound cake was always made with Brun, and it was delicious. She always did say that the Brun butter was key.
Powdered milk or powdered buttermilk and AMF do not need refrigeration, so transpotation costs are cheaper compared to butter. There is a rumor that due to the high prices of AMF, some companies use vegetable oil in their butter formulation. I don’t really know if this is true since the source of the information was a competitor. We currently use butter made in Thailand.
Did Brun butter come in a gold tin can?
I remember my grandmother using Queensland Butter in the old days. she used it for chicken a la king and she loved it on hot pan de sal.
this post is so timely!! my 10 year old son has been making butter for the past 2 weeks. i would buy heavy cream from a local dairy (known for its great tasting dairy products) and he would put the cream in a wide mouthed jar and start shaking. pretty soon we had butter that is soft and sweet. we experimented and let the cream sit in room temperature for 1 day and the butter that came from the batch was actually better. came in handy when we had pancakes and had to use “his” butter, boy you should have seen the look on his face when he had to give up the rewards of his hard labor. lol.
this post brings back so many good memories of my lola. this is the brand she used to buy. i never saw any other brand of butter at her house. she would eat hot pandesal everyday with this butter and kesong puti. i used to think it was a preference of people her age, because my mom hardly bought this brand of butter. its a bit oily if i may say but surprisingly very good with newly baked bread.
The information I found on the closure of all of Plum’s holdings are on this link (in danish):
https://www.thedodo.info/Dronte%209/Dron09_Det_tredie_Ting_del2_5.htm
His story is full of intrigues and controversies leading up to his suicide in 1929. The document started with Plum’s association with Jewish bankers and that he commited tax fraud in the years 1919-1920. It also stated that the Crown Butter Co. With all of the companies Harald Plum owned/co-owned and one of them was The Danish-Philippine Trading Co. with other companies like The Crown Butter Export Co., The United Danish Butter Preserving Co., The Scandinavien Preserved Butter Co., P.F. Esbensen. Mælke-Export…The document also named A/S Vitamin Mælkekompagniet (which was actually also owned by Harald Plum) the rights to use the formula for the method of drying milk (Brugsret til Udnyttelse af Mælketørringsmetoden »Niro«) and this company (A/S Vitamin had close ties with Itamin-Foder Kompagniet (Foder can mean “food”), the German Vitamin-Kunstmælk (kunst meaning “artificial”), and Vitamin Foderforretning in Malmø, Sweden…So, with all that I’ve read so far about Harald’s story, it means that even in the old days, they had been drying milk making it into milk solids. We do not know who owns the patent today.
now i miss my mom! we always have this during breakfast when i was younger. :) i remember just spreading it on a warm pandesal with a sprinkle of white sugar. :) i say it’s yummy! :) I never thought it’s still in the market. I will buy a can or two when I go home!!! :) thank you so much for this post. It brings so much wonderful childhood memories. :)
Brun butter. Still a mystery. Talked about but has never been seen. Fascinating.
The method “Niro”, I found out was patented by Danish engineer Johann Ernst Nyrop and the company he founded (plus the info on milk powder technology) is in this link:
https://www.niro.com/niro/cmsdoc.nsf/WebDoc/ndkw5y4brlLibrary
Knowing this information made me think and realize that the process that made it possible for New Zealand Creamery in making Queensland Butter in Makati is a technology already known and used during the time of Harald Plum.
I remember having Brun butter in the 80s, in a distinctive gold can with a cow. I do not remember the taste, but I remember that it was better than the other butters my parents used to buy at the time. Then it disappeared. Two years ago, my father says he found Brun butter again at the International Bazaar.
I can’t fine any reference to it in the net. How strange.
New Zealand Creamery – same folks who bring us Ques-O / Che-Vital (no comment…. haha) and most of JB’s sliced “cheese” in their burgers :)
my mom has always gushed about Brun Butter as if it were gold. Let me ask her if she remembers anything about it.
What additives, emulsifiers, or preservatives are added to make this “butter” ? No truth in labeling ? This post clears up the mystery of why local Manila butter is weird.
the string of remarks on this blog is starting to sound like anecdotes about a cargo cult! heheheheeee. my old man also has a similar wonderful memories about consumer items available before and after “Liberation”, though a particular powdered milk brand from that era seem to be his object of longing. everything else, including any of the modern brands, pale in comparison…
I remember Brun butter in the 50s. It came in a gold can with a white label, and was from Denmark Mom used to shop at times at Philippine Cold Stores in Quiapo, which supplied malted Horlicks, Toddy drinks (in a brown can) as well as nice cuts of meat.
Brun did have a unique flavour, somewhat intense.
Living in now, with its wide choice of fresh butter, the only tinned butter I buy is “Ghee” which comes in a green can, and is so useful for curries.
The old Kenwood Chef mixer used to have a butter making attachment, which rarely comes up in the second hand stores, and comes at a premium price now.
I learned to make butter with my kids from “pioneer day” at school. Put a clean marble in a clean glass jar, then pour in some heavy cream. Tighten the lid of the jar well and shake until you no longer hear the marble and the butter has separated from the liquid. Drain and pat the butter dry. Conversely, you can put some cream in a stand mixer and whip until the butter solidifies and separates from the liquid.
The legend of Brun butter brings to mind another culinary legend. Dad used to speak reverentially of the pre=war “jamon en funda”(wrapped in sacking) from Australia. When I migrated here in 1971, I went to Hutton’s factory in Sydney – then the premier ham maker in Australia. They confirmed the legend and were still making it. I went home with one, so I could tell Dad I tried it. It was nice, equivalent to their premium ham, but to my mind not legendary. I ordered it again when Dad came for a visit. I dont know if it is still made. Perhaps I should have prepared it the Filipino way, baked with pineapple juice.
i remember my mom always talking about her ‘brun butter cake’ which she learned from a cooking class she and her sisters had when they were younger. she used to make them for us kids way back in the 80s. she says she remembers buying the brun butter (in a gold canister) in the supermakets — either unimart (back in the late 80s) or hi-top (early 90s). i kinda remember seeing it then, since i accompany her while doing the grocery…..
Brun butter brings back memories! My grandma always had a can on her table, always part of Sunday breakfast ritual
They hold queensland butter on the aisles with the cheese spreads, lower shelf. So yes, the major supermarket still carries them in the metro, both small and big cans.
It wasn’t that Brun was the greatest butter ever, just that it was what was available and “best” then. Tasting real churned butter is a revelation, the various nuances are complex and clearly delineated from one to the other. Many restaurants in France will mention the source of their table butter and will often offer a number of different ones.
Just as different olive oils are available so are butters and now the availability is so much wider due to faster cold transport and storage. Even our mother finally conceeded in the 80’s that there were more delicious butters than “Brun” after she got a taste of real creamery butter, and not reconstituted milk solids.
I distinctly remember that it was in a small, gold/brownish tin can with an image of a cow on it. And the taste was very much different from all other commercial butters that were available at the time.
The maddening thing is that I know of this from being a kid in the early 80s. And I honestly don’t believe that the entirety of the Internet has no image documenting this. The lack of information on it brings it almost to the level of an urban legend.
If anybody has a picture of the can, I seriously hope they can upload it somewhere for us to see it. I know I’d like proof.
Hi, if Brun butter is packaged in a gold can then I think S&R has it… I remember seeing it and thinking “oh, that’s why it’s called Brun butter cake…” Don’t know if they still have it though…
Just like others who have commented, I learned about “Brun butter” from my lola. MM, off topic, how do the prices of Cash and Carry compare with other supermarkets? I remember Cash and Carry in the 80s (and Cartimar too!). They sold mostly imported products from food to all sorts of dry goods. I have not visited Cash and Carry since I re-located back to Manila last year.
My Mom used to buy Brun butter in the 80’s… All I can remember is that it was in a gold can and exceptionally “malinamnam” compared to other butters I have tasted (Queensland included)! I think I saw it in S&R recently…
Hi Sister,
What are your favorite butter brands? Any brand particularly suited for certain things? e.g. ensaimada? toast? pie crusts? sauces? all-purpose?
We have quite a selection from australia, new zealand, france and the netherlands.
This butter-fest will be my weekend activity. :)
Your finger might have hovered on the right answer to the Brun butter brainteaser when you mentioned that something in the pasteurization process could have inadvertently altered the flavor to make it stand out all these years in the minds of those who tasted it. And I’ll add to that the long journey to our shores and the even longer wait on the shelves in the Tropics could have enhanced that effect even more. I have not yet come across that flavor again in any butter I have focused my taste buds on since I last tasted it in the sixties. From time to time though, in certain stores here (in Toronto) and when traveling in Europe (I particularly remember huge bowls of them in a VIP lounge of Air France), a bite of a Normandy shortbread called palet de Bretagne serves up the right password and opens the floodgates of memory.
Trin,
In the US I buy unsalted Plugra, red for general baking, and gold for butter cakes and cookies. For the freshest butter available I buy Ronny Brook unsalted at Union Square farmers market which is available in 5 lb blocks as well as 8 oz. bricks. For table butter I buy salted Kerry Gold or salted Plugra. For an all purpose readily available butter I think Land O’ Lakes is pretty good. Unfortunately butter has gone up in price in the last couple of months and some brands are now $7. a lb. I thought there was an oversupply of milk so I don’t know what gives.
The selection in Europe is far more interesting, specially in France for table butter from Normandy. I am not familiar with Australian or New Zealand butters but surely they have premium brands.
Hi MM,
Just last Sunday, I also found Golden Churn butter from Australia at Bulla in Ash Creek Greenhills (they also sell Dippin’ Dots ice cream). The butter also comes in cans and a 325 g pack costs P150. Just as good or even better than Queensland.
Marketfan
Agree with JE. There is a real Brun butter in can which come in a gold/brown can. It taste better than Queensland, far better. Tasted this several years back, bought at Unimart.
my mother is an excellent cook and has been searching for THE brunn butter for years. the butter cake made from this tastes and smells absolutely heavenly! my mom got the recipe when she attended french culinary school. wish i could find brunn butter these days as it brings back good memories of childhood in the sixties. last time i saw one was the early 80’s at the chilled section of the now-gone rustan’s supermarket in cubao.
I have been searching for Brun butter for a long time. Last time I bought a can was in the 80s, at Hi Top Supermarket at the corner of Quezon Avenue and Sgt Esguerra (formerly Bohol Ave.).
I grew up on this butter, with my grandfather always having a can to go with the “bonete” he bought at the old Vienna Bakery in Echague (now Palanca St.) in Quiapo. I have also heard him talk of great ensaymada made with Brun. I tried making Brun ensaymada, but failed. They tasted heavenly, but was hard like a hard dinner roll. Hehe, not the Brun butter’s fault but my bad baking skills.
Nostalgia may be clouding my memory, but no other butter I have tasted since that last can I bought in Hi Top come close to it. The nearest was a little can of butter from France that my sister and I came across, strangely, in an Asian store in Michigan 5 years ago. It was what they call pure creamery butter. The Vietnamese immigrants were the buyers of that butter, apparently also having grown up on it.
It is interesting that Brun butter turns out to be Danish butter. Because of all the imported butters available now, my favorite is Lurpak Danish butter.
Hey I do have a can of BRUUN BUTTER how do I post an image.
OMG…finally I have found someone who’s in search of the enigmatic Brunn Butter! A few years back, I had a craving for Brunn Butter Cake—one that brings me back memories of Mommy’s baking and my childhood. Yes, I vividly remember the distinct flavor or “scent” of Brunn Butter and its containment in a can. I still have my Mom’s recipe, but could not find that special butte anywhere else. I tried searching on the internet, but to no avail. There is something about the aroma of Brunn Butter cake after it’s taken out of the oven. Plus the flavor of it somehow makes it a notch higher than any Butter Cake. I wish, they could churn more of that butter again—if only to capture one’s sweet tooth memory. Thanks for sharing this blog—now it makes me feel that I’m not the only one intrigued by a mysterious butter.
brun butter is available anywhere you find your local asian market. Or you can order from me. I can send anywhere in California
where this in Makati?
Bruun in the gold can was our “special” butter when we were growing up in the late 60s and early 70s. Mom had us spread it on hot pandesal with Marca Piña Queso de Bola or the fabulous “Mabuti” sardines; or Hok Sio Chinese Ham; and I have to tell you the taste of Bruun left the eater wanting for more! Yes, I miss Bruun very much but Queensland canned butter does the job when I do have the cravings. Otherwise, it’s good ‘ole dependable Anchor for me.
Is it my imagination or has the taste of Magnolia and Anchor butters changed recently?