Better Butter: Why We Only Bake with the Gold Standard of Butter

 



Not all butter is created equal.

Some are pale, flat, and forgettable.
And then there's real butter — the kind that’s golden, luscious, and full of rich, cultured depth.

At Gold Standard Bake Shop, we believe that great butter makes everything better — from your morning scone to your birthday cake. That’s why we don’t settle for just any butter.
We use European butter — especially French and English butters — for one simple reason:
It tastes better, and it bakes better.

But why is that? What makes European butter so different? And how did it become the gold standard for serious bakers around the world?

Let’s dig into the delicious story of good butter.

🧈 What Makes Good Butter... Good?

Butter is made from cream — but the way that cream is treated, the cows it comes from, and how it’s churned make all the difference. The key factors?

  • Butterfat content

  • Culture (yes, like yogurt!)

  • Freshness of the cream

  • How the cows are raised

In the U.S., butter must contain at least 80% butterfat. But in Europe? Butters often clock in at 82–86% butterfat — giving them a richer flavor, smoother texture, and better performance in baking.

And that’s just the beginning.

🇫🇷 French Butter: The Gold Standard of Richness

In France, butter is an art form. Often cultured (meaning the cream is fermented before churning), French butter develops a deep, tangy, complex flavor that’s worlds apart from the bland grocery store stuff.

Famous for:

  • AOC Isigny butter from Normandy – prized for its golden hue and rich pastures

  • Beurre de Baratte – traditionally churned in small batches

  • Salted or demi-sel varieties – delicately seasoned with French sea salt

French butter has long been a staple in pâtisseries and Michelin-starred kitchens, where flavor and texture matter down to the crumb. It makes croissants flakier, cookies more melt-in-your-mouth, and frostings silkier.

🇬🇧 English Butter: A Legacy of Creamy Excellence

English butter has its own centuries-old story, tied to pasture-raised cows and slow, traditional churning methods. The lush, rainy landscape of Britain produces sweet, nutrient-rich cream — perfect for world-class butter.

In the 1800s, English butter was so prized that it became one of the country’s top exports. Today, brands like Rodda’s, Neal’s Yard, and The Estate Dairy carry on the tradition of small-batch, grass-fed, slow-churned butter that’s full of flavor and perfect for baking.

English butter is known for:

  • Its creamy, sweet flavor

  • Deep yellow color from grass-fed cows

  • Minimal additives and exceptional quality control

🔥 Why European Butter Makes Better Baked Goods

When it comes to baking, butter is more than a fat — it’s a flavor. It impacts everything from texture to structure to aroma. And the high butterfat content in European butter means:

  • Flakier pastries and croissants

  • Creamier buttercreams and frostings

  • More tender cookies, cakes, and biscuits

  • Deeper, richer flavor in every bite

If you’ve ever wondered why European pastries taste so good — the butter is the secret.

🍰 Why Gold Standard Bake Shop Uses Only European Butter

At Gold Standard Bake Shop, we care deeply about what goes into our ovens — and into your body.

We don’t use margarine, blends, or mass-produced butter with additives or artificial coloring. We choose European-style butter because it delivers:

  • Unmatched flavor and mouthfeel

  • Better baking performance

  • Cream sourced from happy, pasture-raised cows

  • A cleaner, richer final product

In short? We use the butter we’d serve to our own families — and proudly build every croissant, tart, and tea cake around it.

You can taste the difference in every bite.

Final Thoughts: Elevate with Better Butter

There’s something beautifully old-fashioned about good butter. It’s patient. Pure. Honest.

Whether you’re spreading it on warm sourdough or folding it into layers of dough, butter is the soul of baking. And when you start with something as good as French or English butter, you don’t need to add much else.

That’s what we believe at Gold Standard Bake Shop:
Simple, exceptional ingredients lead to unforgettable flavor.

Stay tuned for our next post, where we’ll share our favorite Vanilla Bean Butter Cookie recipe — made, of course, with the finest European butter.

Because when it comes to good baking… it all starts with better butter. 🧈✨

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