eli5: how does churning milk/heavy cream make butter/whipped cream?

Question

Like what’s actually happening to make these products. If they’re the same process, would me beating heavy cream too long end up making butter instead of just whipped cream?

In: 8

Answer 1

When you churn cream, the fat molecules in the cream get shaken out of position and clump together. Eventually, after enough churning , the fat molecules that are clumped so much forms butter.

I make butter all the time, put some cream in a plastic bottle, binge watch something while using it as a shake weight, then get buttermilk and butter.