It might seem counterintuitive, but when you're cutting up that stick of butter for your next recipe, reach for this item ...

Whisk together starch with 1½ tablespoons water until no lumps remain. Add butter cubes to the starch mixture. Add eggs and salt. Whisk, breaking up any cubes of butter that have stuck together ...

Line a 23cm/9in square cake tin with baking parchment. Combine the flour and butter cubes in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. (Alternatively, you can rub ...

Whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat. Add the butter cubes a few at a time, whisking until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth; set aside to cool. In large heatproof bowl ...

A stick of butter partially broken into cubes, resting on parchment paper on a brown wooden cutting board - Lizuca Hila / 500px/Getty Images ...