This is the first in a series of 7 “Cake Batter” classes. Over the course we’ll test how changes to mixing method and ingredients can alter a cake’s taste and texture. This is how you can perfect your own recipes. Start with a base recipe, then tweak the ingredients and/or techniques to get a cake more to your own taste. We’ll look at the role each ingredient plays in the batter. But first we’ll look at two cake batter mixing methods.
A baker can’t just haphazardly change around the ingredients in a recipe and expect a good outcome. We must make adjustments thoughtfully to keep the recipe in balance. We’ll work with a very basic pound cake as our test recipe for the “Cake Batter” classes. Pound cake is a great tool for our purposes precisely because it’s a simple recipe with just 4 ingredients. Pound cake got it’s name based on the original formula of 1 pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. It’s called “quatre-quarts” (four-fourths) by the French.
Cake Batter – Mixing Method
When I was in culinary school, our first lesson in the “cakes” section was the basic pound cake. Not only did we have to use the original “quatre quarts” recipe, we were required to cream the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon, by hand. We had to add the eggs one at a time, while trying to keep the proper texture of the batter. At the time it seemed a little ridiculous. We knew we’d never actually mix a pound cake by hand, especially in a pro kitchen. But the exercise did reinforce how important technique is, not only for pound cake but for all baking.
Precisely because the original pound cake recipe is so simple it’s the perfect vehicle to test how mixing technique can affect cake texture. It matters how the ingredients of a pound cake are put together. There is no hiding behind swirls of sweet frosting to mask a rubbery or dense cake. So lets learn about two cake batter mixing methods.
Traditional Creaming vs. Reverse Creaming (or two stage creaming)
The traditional creaming method starts by beating together the butter and sugar. The sharp edges of the sugar crystals cut through the butter to create lots of little air bubbles. The eggs are added one at a time and the flour is added last. As soon as the flour is added gluten, the protein in the flour that gives baked goods their structure, will start to form. As the cake bakes the air bubbles trapped in the butter will expand in the heat of the oven producing, in theory, a light and airy cake.
Reverse creaming, aka two-stage creaming, is an alternate technique used by many bakers (including me). Reverse creaming starts by beating together the flour, sugar and butter. Gluten won’t start to form until the flour comes in contact with water (in the egg whites). Coating the flour molecules with butterfat before the eggs are added creates a barrier which slows the formation of gluten. Reverse creaming should, in theory, make a cake with a more tender and velvety texture.
Cake Batter Testing 1, 2, 3
One way to compare mixing techniques is to run side-by-side tests. For each test I mixed one batch using the traditional creaming method and one batch using the reverse creaming method. Each batch of cake contained exactly 8 ounces each of cake flour, granulated sugar, unsalted butter and eggs. The butter and eggs were at ideal room temperature, between 65-70°F. All cakes were baked in identical 9”x 5” loaf pans at 325°F in a convection oven.
All ingredients should be at ideal room temperature, about 65°-70°F.
The cake batters look similar going into the oven.
The crusts on the cakes had slightly different texture.
At first glance, the cakes made with the different mixing methods looked very similar, but once I cut and tasted the cakes the differences became apparent.
The cake made with the traditional creaming method had a very tight crumb and contained a few pockets of air. The cake was a little chewy with a slightly bouncy texture. I pinched a piece of the cake between my fingers and it held together a moment before breaking up.
The cake made with the reverse method also had a tight crumb, but it was very consistent with no air pockets. The texture was softer and more tender. When I pinched a piece of that cake between my fingers it broke apart more easily.
The two cakes made with different mixing methods look similar, but they didn’t taste the same.
While there wasn’t a tremendous difference between the cakes, the cake made with the reverse creaming method was softer and more tender. Which is why reverse creaming is my preferred mixing method.
Old Fashioned Pound Cake - Quatre Quarts
Ingredients
- 8 oz (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 8 oz (1 3/4 cups) cake flour
- 8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (65°-70°F)
- 8 oz eggs (5 large)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan
- Combine the flour and sugar in a mixer bowl. Mix one minute to combine.. With the mixer running on low, add the butter. Increase the speed to medium high and mix for 2-3 minutes to aerate the batter.
- Scrape the bowl and beater. With the mixer running on low, add the eggs in 2 batches, scraping after each addition. Pour the batter in the prepared pan.
- Bake about 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Notes
You can make the same recipe using the traditional creaming method.
If you love learning about the how’s and why’s of baking you’ll love my new book: Easy Baking From Scratch: Quick Tutorials, Time-Saving Tips, Extraordinary Sweet and Savory Classics. The book contains over 100 recipes that have been well-tested and are presented in simple, clear language. It’s available now on Amazon.
Next up: Cake Batter Class #2 will explore how adding salt, flavorings and leavening can improve on the basic pound cake recipe.
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Perfect Pound Cake
Jen
Hi Eileen, thanks for doing this series of cake batter class. I learnt and am learning a lot from your post, especially the Science behind cakes.
The crust of the cake from the reverse creaming method have lots of white specks compared to the traditional creaming method. Why is that so? I do agree that the texture of the cake from the reverse method is more tender and moist compared to the traditional method.
Thanks again for being so generous with your knowledge.
Eileen Gray
Hi, Jen. I think it’s actually the cake made with the traditional creaming method that has the little white specks (the cake on the left in the photos). Honestly, I never noticed the specks until I was editing the photos. I’m not 100% sure what that’s from. When I mixed the batter using the traditional creaming method the batter became curdled looking when the eggs were added. The specks may have something to do with that batter not being completely emulsified, but that’s just a guess. Getting a nicely emulsified batter is one of the reasons I put extra egg yolks in the final recipe.
Thanks for reading. I hope it’s helpful.
Rachel
Oh goodness! I’m so grateful for the course. Thanks! I just finished baking the honey vanilla pound cake which had a link to the course and the cakes are sooooooooo good. I got a 4thumbs up from my husband (hands and feet) I have and am learning a lot. Thanks again.
Eileen Gray
I’m glad you liked the honey pound cake. It’s such a pretty color and it tastes so good.
Hala
Hello, I don’t know how I missed this wonderful website. I just knew about it yesterday and I can’t get my eyes of it. Whenever I have few free minutes I jump here.
I have tried the reverse method before with amazing results.. thank you so much for sharing, I will read about them all.
Thanks
Eileen Gray
Thank you so much, Hala!! That’s so nice of you.
Jeans
Hi Eileen
That’s so amazing and thank you very much for sharing. I’m wondering of baking to get smooth and moist on the surface (no bake and crust).
Could you please advice
Eileen Gray
Well,this recipe will always get a bit of a crust because of the whipped egg whites in the batter. Some of the meringue does migrate to the top of the cake and bakes into a crust. Personally, I always trim off the brown edges so I don’t mind if it has a crust. Cake baking strips help keep the cake level.
Sophia
Hello, I’m trying this recipe with the reverse creaming method and have a question about the modified recipe. The reverse creaming is to protect the flour molecules from mixing too long with the liquid but you added milk to the final recipe and suggest mixing in half of it before the eggs. Could you explain why this is and why it is preferred over just mixing all of the milk into the eggs? Great course by the way, thanks for taking the time.
Eileen Gray
Hi Sophia, I add just a little of the milk because, frankly, it’s just too hard to get the butter to mix in without a little of the milk. Still, because the butter is going in with it and there’s just a little liquid, the flour will be coated with the fat.
Marina
Hello Eileen,
I just discovered your site and I think it’s great. I will try to bake this recipe as soon as possible! However, I have a doubt: when mixing the dry ingredients with the butter and afterwards the eggs, do you use the normal wire whip from the mixer or do you use the flat beater? My mixer comes with both accessories and I was wondering if the resulting cake was different depending on which I use. Thanks!
Eileen
Hi Marina. I always use the flat beater attachment for cake batter. Sorry if that’s not made clear in my directions.
Marina
Thanks for the reply! Maybe I missed the baking lesson where you explained that!
Eileen
I never specifically said to use the flat beater. Perhaps I should. Thanks.
Sean King
Can I use the reverse creaming method for cooking Pound Cakes in a Bundt Pan?
Eileen
Yes.
VINH
Just tried your recipe of Perfect Vanilla Pound Cake in your book. Cake is really light, nice texture and very easy to be prepared. We love this pound cake.
We preheat the oven to 300 oF, convection mode with water in the oven for steam cooking. Our pans are made of brown metal thus we drop the cooking temperature to 300 F and cook for an hour. The cake surface is nice without any splitting crack.
Thank a lot for sharing to us your knowledge.
Eileen
Great! Glad you liked the cake.