Butter candle I am a food blog – univers-japan-shop

Move over the butter boards, the butter candle is here!

They add light, ambience and, of course, butter to any table, making bread, steak or whatever you want dipped in butter a fun and interactive experience. If you love hot butter and fresh bread, or love butter boards, you’ll love the viral TikTok trend of butter candles.

What is a butter candle?

It’s exactly what it sounds like: a candle made of butter. A food-safe wick is lit at the table and the butter is slowly softened, making the butter melty, soaking, or pourable. Butter candles are usually served with bread, but you can also serve them with whatever you like with butter. As a dip, you can accompany: seafood, vegetables or meat. And for pouring, think: mashed potatoes, rice, popcorn, the list goes on. Is there anything that isn’t better with butter?

Who invented butter candles?

To be honest, butter candles are a modern take on the deliciously retro tallow candles, which are candles made from beef fat. Tallow candles have been around for centuries, dating back to ancient Rome, in fact. Lately, adventurous restaurants have started serving steak with very tasty edible tallow candles. The resulting hot, melted beef fat is poured over steak or served with potatoes. Really, it’s not that important to switch to homemade butter candles for the bread. The first version I saw on Tiktok was of gourmet Soozie serving hers with bread. The other one that I see repeated is the SAMO steak butter candle. These two Tiktoks are perfect examples of the two different ways to make butter candles.

How to make a butter candle

There are two ways to make a butter candle: hand-shaping and pouring. Both work well, but shaping by hand is a bit more difficult and if you don’t have food safety gloves I recommend going the pouring route.

Hand Poured Butter Candle

This is definitely the easiest way to make a butter candle. Melt the butter, make a wick with food thread, pour the butter into a container and wait for it to set. That’s it!

1. To melt the butter. You can make this in a small saucepan over low heat on the stove or in 20 second increments in the microwave, stirring each time you restart the microwave.
2. Make the wick Cut a piece of food-safe twine and dip it in melted butter to create a food-safe wick.
3. Place the wick in the mold. Tie the buttered twine around a stick or toothpick and place the stick on top of the butter candle mold, making sure the twine touches the bottom of the mold.
4. Pour in the butter. Pour the melted butter into the mold, making sure the wick is in the center of the candle.
5. Let the candle take. Place the butter candle in the refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.
6. Light your butter candle and enjoy. When it’s time to enjoy, remove the stick and trim the wick so it is 1/4 to 1/2 inch above the candle. Use a match or lighter to light the wick and allow the butter to melt. Enjoy melted butter by dipping or pouring it!

Hand forming a butter candle

Start with butter for a lightly smooth spread. Ideally, take the butter out of the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 20 minutes. Roll out a piece of plastic wrap and place your stick of butter in the middle. Use your hands or a rolling pin to slightly flatten the butter, and place a piece of kitchen string in the middle to make a wick. Use the plastic wrap to roll the butter into a candle shape. Take to the fridge to set.

butter candle wicks

It doesn’t matter if you’re shaping or pouring by hand, either way, you’ll need a food-safe bit. My suggestion is 100% cotton food-safe twine, the kind you tie roasts and chicken with. You can find it near the meat section at the grocery store or you can order it online. Because it is food safe, it will be safe when you light your candle. All you have to do to turn your food string into a wick is dip it in melted butter to better hold the flame.

butter candle molds

You can go store bought or homemade here. Your mold really depends on whether you want to have a freestanding (unmolded) candle or a candle in a container. In general, you want a standing or shallow candle for dipping and a vessel candle for pouring.

Dipping Butter Candle Mold

Depending on whether you want to unmold your candle or not, you will need a disposable or reusable mold. If you are going to unmold your candle, you can use a paper cup that you can cut up and then peel the butter off. You can even make a tube out of cardboard, line it with parchment paper, and tape the bottom down. If you opt for a dipping candle that you’ll leave in the pan, opt for a shallow container you already have at home like a small pan or plate. This butter jar would work amazing for a butter dipped candle.

Pourable Butter Candle Mold

These can be anything small with a spike. We are using a small creamer jug, which has worked great and is incredibly cute. Anything small and pourable is usable. Small cream pitchers or espresso spouts are great and there are plenty of them. These mini glass espresso cups with wooden handles are super cute.

Salted butter or not

Most people will tell you to use salted butter because that’s what you serve with bread, but unsalted works too, just serve your candle with flaked sea salt. Really, use whatever butter you want.

What to serve with butter candles

Really, anything can help you. If you opt for a starter, a good selection of crusty breads works well. On the other hand, if you want to serve a buttery candle for breakfast or brunch, consider freshly baked pancakes, waffles, or muffins. If you serve it with dinner, the melted butter tastes amazing over rice, noodles, vegetables, seafood, and meats. The classic is herb butter with fries, you can’t go wrong with that!

butter candle flavor

Any compound butter (flavored butter), can be a butter candle. To make, simply stir the ingredients into the melted butter.

• Garlic butter: 1/2 cup butter plus 4 garlic cloves, finely minced or 4 garlic cloves, roasted
• herb butter: 1/2 cup butter plus 2 tablespoons freshly chopped herbs of choice such as mint, cilantro, chives, rosemary, thyme, flat-leaf parsley, sage, basil, dill, l tarragon, chives
• jalapeño beurre: 1/2 cup butter plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno
• paprika beurre: 1/2 cup butter plus 1 teaspoon smoked paprika and 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
• shallot butter: 1/2 cup butter plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots, 2 finely minced garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley
• red wine butter: 1/2 cup butter, 2 tablespoons red wine, 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots, 2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
• lemon butter: 1/2 cup butter, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest, 2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley

Pro Tips

1. Make sure your butter candle is solid before lighting it, otherwise you’ll just have a puddle of butter instead of a candle.
2. If you unmold your candle, place the candle in a deep plate with a rim so that when it melts it does not boil over and spill the butter.
3. Start small! Yes, you can make a butter candle with 1 pound of butter, but that’s overkill even these days. All you really need is a stick of butter (which is 1/2 cup).
4. Super soft buttery candles. If you’re a purist and want a nice, clean-burning candle, be sure to clarify and strain the butter. Since butter contains water and milk solids, an unrefined butter candle will sizzle a bit due to the milk solids. It’s definitely an optional step and I don’t think it’s necessary.

Enjoy! There is nothing more delicious than very good butter and very good bread. There’s a reason bread and butter is classic. For me, there is no such thing as the perfect starter. Some of you may wonder why or shake your head at the ridiculousness of this, but it’s 2022 and 2023 and this is our life now. I’m here for it until the end! Butter candles are festive and make a delicious centerpiece. What’s not to like?

Good butter candle!
steph-xox