Creaming (cooking)

This article is about cooking. For use of the word in laboratory chemistry, see Creaming (chemistry).

Creaming refers to several different culinary processes. In baking, it means the blending of ingredients with a softened form of a solid fat. In cooking, it means a dish has been poached in milk, cream, or a similar liquid. In the dairy industry, it means separating cream from milk.

Butter being creamed by electric beaters

Baking

In baking, creaming is the technique of softening solid fat, such as shortening or butter, into a smooth mass and then blending it with other ingredients. The technique is most often used in making buttercream, cake batter, or cookie dough. The dry ingredients are mixed or beaten with the softened fat until it becomes light and fluffy, increasing in volume due to the incorporation of tiny air bubbles. Locked into the semi-solid fat, these air bubbles remain in the final batter, and expand as the item is baked, serving as a form of leavening agent.

Cooking

A bowl of creamed corn

In cooking, creaming is when food is prepared by slow simmering or poaching in milk or cream, such as creamed chipped beef on toast.

Some preparations of "creamed" food substitute a suspension of water and starch (eg. corn starch) for some or all of the milk or cream. This produces a "creamy" texture, but with no actual cream or milk. Creamed corn uses only the liquid "milk" from mashed corn kernels.^[1]

Dairy production

In dairy production, creaming is the process of separating un-homogenized milk into cream and skimmed milk. This usage is similar to the term as it is used in chemistry. When left to stand for 12 to 24 hours, fresh milk tends to separate into a high-fat cream layer on top of a larger, low-fat milk layer, because fat is less dense than water. However, the process is usually accelerated in industrial production by using a cream separator.^[2]

See also

• Emulsion
• Whipped cream