The label alone caught my attention. It said "Churned cream," although the plastic container's contents looked suspiciously close to butter. "It is butter," said the friendly guy working the cash register at the Mill City General

Updated: July 9, 2008 - 12:29 PM

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The label alone caught my attention. It said "Churned cream," although the plastic container's contents looked suspiciously close to butter. "It is butter," said the friendly guy working the cash register at the Mill City General Store, a must-visit stand that stocks an appealing array of meats, dairy products, pestos and other locally made prepared foods. "They're just waiting for their licensing to come through, so they have to call it 'churned cream' until it does." Semantics aside, the pasture-grazing cows -- and the skilled dairy pros -- at Castle Rock Organic Dairy in Osseo, Wis., are doing something very right, because this "butter" is deeply golden and almost absurdly rich. This farm-to-table goodness doesn't come cheap; a half-pound is $5, and 16 ounces run $8.50. But it's an investment worth making. Back in my kitchen, that glorious whatever-you-call-it went into a cake, and nothing so tender and moist has ever emerged from any Bundt pan of mine.

RICK NELSON

Mill City Farmers Market, 2nd St. and Chicago Av. S., Minneapolis, 612-341-7580, millcityfarmersmarket.org. Open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. For a complete list of Twin Cities farmers markets, go to startribune.com/taste.