Creaming is used to refer to several different
culinary
Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of outline of food preparation, food preparation, cooking and food presentation, presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as res ...
processes. In baking, it is the blending of ingredients with a softened form of a solid fat. When a dish is described as being "creamed", it may mean that it has been
poached in milk, cream or a similar liquid. "Creaming" can also refer to the separation of cream from milk.
Blending
Creaming, in this sense, is the technique of softening solid fat, like
shortening or
butter, into a smooth mass and then blending it with other ingredients. The technique is most often used in making
buttercream,
cake
Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...
batter
Batter or batters may refer to:
Common meanings
* Batter (cooking), thin dough that can be easily poured into a pan
* Batter (baseball), person whose turn it is to face the pitcher
* Batter (cricket), a player who is currently batting
* Batter ...
or
cookie
A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, n ...
dough. The dry ingredients are mixed or beaten with the softened 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.
Poaching
Creamed food, in
cooking
Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to Outline of food preparation, prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric ...
, denotes food that is prepared by slow
simmering or
poaching in
milk or
cream, such as
creamed chipped beef on toast.
Some preparations of "creamed" food substitute water and a starch (often
corn starch
Corn starch, maize starch, or cornflour (British English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or sou ...
) for all or some of the milk or cream. This produces a "creamy" texture with no actual cream or milk used.
Creamed corn uses only the liquid "milk" from mashed corn kernels.
In milk production
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.
References
* p 557.
{{Cooking Techniques
Cooking techniques
Culinary terminology