One of the first things I ever learned in baking was how to cream butter and sugar. Before that, I didn’t really understand why it mattered so much. I had just heard that creaming butter and sugar are the primary steps of baking a cake, a muffin or even a cookie. When I had started baking, I just tried mixing the butter and the sugar perfectly together, unsure of what the “perfect” might have meant.
In this blog post, (since I have now learned the art or the science of creaming butter and sugar) I am gonna try my best to teach you how to cream the butter and sugar in the most perfect manner.
What is Creaming?
The term creaming in baking refers to the golden moment when your butter and sugar combine to create a beautiful fluffy cream-like mixture that is pale in color and looks like a delicious frosting for the cake instead of something that goes “in” the cake itself!
The cake or anything you are trying to bake might not puff properly if you did not follow the initial process properly! Creaming is like an important “chemistry project” that you need to ace at in order for your cake to feel and taste fluffy and soft.
How Does Creaming Help?
Creaming is a pivotal point in baking. Creaming the butter and sugar together is when you decide what kind of end-product are you aiming for. Creaming the butter and sugar or whisking them together can combine air molecules in the mixture itself, creating an even texture to in turn perfectly bake and rise the cake from all sides.
How to Cream Butter and Sugar:
A step by step guide that has helped me and would definitely help you in creating the best cake possible. Let’s go through it one by one and discuss how to cream butter and sugar the perfect way.
Step 1: The butter should already be softened, at room temperature of 35-37 degrees. It shouldn’t have a completed melted form but rather possess a soft look while retaining its original shape.
Step 2: Using granulated sugar to create the best air pockets in the mixture. Icing sugar or a completely coarse sugar might not be the best option as it can disrupt the consistency of the mixture.
Step 3: The volume and consistency really matters. Taking breaks during the mixing process to let the mixture set properly is also important to fluff it up well.
Step 4: The next and the final step is to take a spoonful of the creamed butter and sugar and try to drop it down into the bowl. If it drops down in a ribbon-like consistency it is your cue that you’ve done well.
Step 5: Now you can stop your little dancey dance and get back to baking the rest of the cake (this was just the main step but doesn’t mean now you have got yourself a piece of cake, there’s still baking left to do!) and then cut yourself a fat slice, make a cup of coffee and enjoy!