THE CRUMB INSTITUTE
HYDRATION 70.0 % DOUGH TEMPERATURE 24.1 °C BENCH REST 41 min
[NOTICE: THE BENCH WAS CHECKED FOR LEVEL AT 08:00 AND WAS LEVEL] — FLOUR STORE HELD AT 14.2 °C AND 51 % RELATIVE HUMIDITY — VESSEL PLACED AND TARED TO ZERO — 350.0 g OF WATER ADMITTED AT 21.4 °C IN A SINGLE CONTINUOUS POUR — SALT WEIGHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIFIED, 9.0 g — THE STIRRING WAS JUDGED TOO FAST AND WAS SLOWED — THE OVEN TIMER IS SET TO 38 MINUTES AND NOT TO 79 MINUTES — [NOTICE: THE BENCH WAS CHECKED FOR LEVEL AT 08:00 AND WAS LEVEL] — FLOUR STORE HELD AT 14.2 °C AND 51 % RELATIVE HUMIDITY — VESSEL PLACED AND TARED TO ZERO — 350.0 g OF WATER ADMITTED AT 21.4 °C IN A SINGLE CONTINUOUS POUR — SALT WEIGHED SEPARATELY AS SPECIFIED, 9.0 g — THE STIRRING WAS JUDGED TOO FAST AND WAS SLOWED — THE OVEN TIMER IS SET TO 38 MINUTES AND NOT TO 79 MINUTES —
CBI-2026-012 · published

Butter and sugar: the creaming method as an ordering problem

Abstract

Butter and sugar were beaten together for four minutes at speed three and the mixture was then weighed in a fixed volume to determine how much air had been incorporated. The order in which the remaining ingredients are added changes the result by a factor of two, which is a larger effect than any of us expected from a cake.

air incorporation: A = ( ρ₀ / ρt ) − 1 0.42 = ( 0.911 g/cm³ / 0.641 g/cm³ ) − 1 order dependence: butter + sugar + egg → A = 0.42 (n = 6) butter + egg + sugar → A = 0.19 (n = 6)

Method

Six cakes in each order, one mixer, one bowl, one stopwatch. The bowl was scraped down twice per batch, as specified, and once more than that in three batches by mistake, which are reported separately and are indistinguishable.

Result

Creaming first for four minutes at speed three gives a volume increase of 42 %. Adding the egg before the sugar gives 19 %, and a denser cake that most tasters preferred. We report the preference and do not act on it.

Limitations

The mixer has three speeds. The work cannot be extended to a fourth, which the second author described in correspondence as a limitation of the mixer and not of the method.

Air incorporation, A
0.42
Volume increase after four minutes at speed three.
Order effect
×2.2
Egg before sugar costs more than half the incorporated air.
Batches
12
Six in each order, one bowl, one stopwatch, one disputed scrape.
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