Creaming (food)

Creaming is used to refer to several different culinary processes.

Creaming, in this sense, is the technique of blending several ingredients — for example granulated sugar together with a solid fat like shortening or butter — and working them to a smooth mass. The technique is most often used in making buttercream, cake batter or cookie dough. The dry ingredients are mixed or beaten with the fat until it becomes light and fluffy and increased in volume, due to the incorporation of tiny air bubbles. These air bubbles, locked into the semi-solid fat, remain in the final batter and expand as the item is baked, serving as a form of leavening agent. It then gives it a nice finish to the cake.

Creamed food, in cooking, denotes food that is prepared by slow simmering or poaching in milk or cream. Some typical creamed dishes include creamed corn and creamed chipped beef on toast.

Some commercial preparations of "creamed" food substitute water and a starch (often corn starch) for all or some of the milk or cream. This produces a "creamy" texture with no actual cream or milk used.

Creaming in milk production is the process by which cream rises to the top of un-homogenized milk. In this sense, the word is similar to the term "creaming" as it is used in chemistry.

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