What does monter au beurre mean?
Monter au beurre is French for mounting with butter, which means whisking cold butter into a warm sauce at the end for a glossy, creamy, silky finish.
Why it works
Cold butter is an emulsion of fat droplets in water, with milk proteins that help hold things together. When you whisk small cubes into a warm sauce off the boil, the butter melts gradually and blends into a creamy emulsion. This thickens the sauce slightly and gives it shine and rich flavor. Too much heat breaks the emulsion.
How to do it
Common mistakes
- Using warm or melted butter, which will not form a creamy emulsion.
- Leaving the sauce over high heat, which breaks it into oily puddles.
- Letting the sauce sit too long, since it separates when held hot.
Questions about monter au beurre
How much butter do I add to a pan sauce?
About 1 tablespoon per serving works well. Use cold butter cut into small cubes.
Why did my butter sauce separate?
It was too hot or too much butter went in at once. Take it off the heat and whisk in a splash of cold water.
Is monter au beurre the same as beurre blanc?
Related but different. Beurre blanc is a wine and shallot reduction built almost entirely with mounted butter.
Butter
White Wine
Shallot
