Creaming butter, often with sugar, is an extremely common, crucial step in many recipes for baked goods such as cookies and cakes, but it is also a step that is often done improperly. Creaming butter and sugar together at the start of a recipe incorporates a large number of air bubbles, which causes the baked product to rise well in the oven and turn out light and fluffy in texture.
TO START: Butter should be softened. To soften butter, it should be placed out at room temperature (on the counter) for at least thirty minutes, but no more than seventy five minutes, or until butter reaches a temperature of sixty-five to seventy degrees Fahrenheit. Butter that is warmer will become too soft to cream properly. Although butter packages say to keep the butter refrigerated, fresh butter can safely be stored at room temperature for up to a day or two, and older butter can stand at room temperature for a maximum of two hours, without posing any risk of spoilage or food poisoning. Although quicker and much more convenient, try to refrain from softening butter in the microwave. Often butter softened in the microwave either does not get soft enough or gets too soft and melts in places. It is rare to get butter at just the right temperature by microwaving it, as microwave ovens heat foods unevenly. If you are in a hurry, cut cold butter into smaller pieces to warm at room temperature, or put the pieces in a small bowl placed in a larger bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
TO CREAM: The butter should be placed, with the sugar if called for, in a bowl that is able to accommodate the butter with plenty of extra room for mixing. Butter can be creamed by hand with a wooden spoon, by using a handheld electric mixer, or by using a stand mixer. Obviously creaming by hand will take the longest, but it is also the most fun! Now, simply beat the butter! Begin at low speed, increasing speed if necessary. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula often to ensure all of the butter creams fully with the sugar. Most recipes recommend beating until light and fluffy. When it is light and fluffy, you will know, if you don’t know, it is not light and fluffy yet, so keep on beating! Thoroughly creaming butter really takes about eight to ten minutes, but if a recipe indicates a shorter length of time, follow the recipe. Many bakers don’t cream butter for nearly as long as they should, so don’t be afraid to beat! The risk of over beating butter is quite low, so just keep going.
ADDITIONAL TIPS: Use a bowl that is at room temperature, so the butter does not melt or solidify. Creamed butter should be used immediately. If butter melts or becomes too soft to cream, do not try to re-solidify it and use it again, save it for another purpose. If you are using hard margarine in place of butter, the same rules and methods apply.
There, now that you have your perfectly creamed butter, you are probably ready to add the eggs to your recipe. Before you do, I recommend you take a spoonful of the creamed butter and sugar mixture and taste it. It is absolutely delicious, especially if the sugar is brown! You will also notice the incredibly desirable light and creamy texture in your mouth. That is the result of properly creamed butter.
