After years of making it available exclusively for shoppers at Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market in St. Paul, Hope Creamery is now widely distributing its phenomenal high-fat butter. That sound you hear is the collective rejoicing of the local baking community.
Sold in pound-size blocks and wrapped in distinctive red ink-printed wax paper, the latest from the pride of tiny Hope, Minn., only accentuates key words like flaky, tender and golden. In other words, a prime cookie-baking foundation. No wonder the label says, "the butter that betters the baker."
To butter novices, the difference may seem slight — something around 80 to 82 percent milk fat for standard-issue butter (the rest is water and milk solids) and roughly 85 percent for the high-fat butter — but don't let the arithmetic fool you.
"There is absolutely no comparison between the regular stuff and the high-fat stuff," said Heartland chef/co-owner Lenny Russo. "It costs more. But it's worth it."
About $5.39 per pound, available at Lunds and Byerly's, Kowalski's Markets, Wedge Co-op and Seward Co-op.
RICK NELSON
Singing, ceremonies and straw hats: Olympics opening ceremony in Tahiti centers Polynesian culture
![Viva Froeming, left, touched the face of friend Virginia Goering as her twin sister Vera Sims looks on. The three ladies, all 101 years old, have been](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/ZRFTXJFYUVHBTFGD4UNQNYTEGI.jpg?h=91&w=145&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)
Three 101-year-old friends recall fond memories in 1940s Alexandria
Celine Dion makes musical comeback at Paris Olympics with Eiffel Tower serenade
![Former Gophers diver Sarah Bacon, right, will compete with Kassidy Cook in the women's 3-meter synchronized springboard competition at the Paris Olymp](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/N37HMV3KY5CYPB4SIMTKQVIH7M.jpg?h=91&w=145&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)