Whipped up some butter-sugar blend only to realize you’re short of the right pan size requisite for the vanilla cake to work?
No problem, you can always store the fluffy mixture for a little while as you go about sourcing the right pan for project. Here’s exactly how to do so, below.
Creamed butter and sugar is best stored in the refrigerator in an airtight packaging for no more than two weeks after its preparation. Alternatively, it can be stored in the freezer for no more than three months under airtight packaging, but this method is usually not recommended since it can affect the functionality of the creamed mixture more than refrigeration does when incorporated in future recipes.
For best result with a creamed butter and sugar, it is always advised to prepare and use it exactly when you need it, and avoid storing it either in the refrigerator or the freezer which can impact on its ability to trap in air and cause proper aeration in final baked goods.
How can the functionality of the creamed butter and sugar mixture in future recipes be affected when storing them in the fridge?
Storing a creamed butter and sugar in the refrigerator and then re-creaming for a future recipe (because you obviously have to), will often result in something called over creaming, for most of us.
This is when you incorporate sugar crystals into the fat present in the butter, far too much that it can handle, causing a breakdown of the fat and thus releasing whatever air has been trapped from current and previous beating, and also preventing further accumulation of air bubbles from the current beating.
This imparts some undesirable characteristics to the final baked goods such as denseness, flatness, partially risen good, and even reduced flavor.
If using shortening or lard however, it might be a little resistant to over-creaming than butter and also have a better chance of retaining some of the air bubbles forced into the cream during the first creaming even after a brief period of storage (i.e. 2 days or so), and so you might have a better result with storing it in the fridge, re-creaming it, and then incorporating it into recipes.
How to store creamed butter and sugar
Refrigerate it: It is better to refrigerate than freeze creamed butter and sugar because the former can easily be re-creamed with lesser chances of over-creaming, or breakdown. With a frozen creamed butter and sugar, you’ll have to bring it to room temperature first, then cream to incorporate the lost air bubbles before finally using it in a recipe. Obviously, the chances of screwing the creamed mixture is higher!
To refrigerate a creamed butter and sugar, follow the steps below:
- Scoop and transfer the mixture into a plastic storage container or a zip lock bag. Lid the container or zip the bag to prevent the mixture from coming in contact which oxygen which will cause the fat in the butter to go rancid faster, even though in reality, it’ll still happen much slowly since the temperature is low which naturally slows down the reaction that causes rancidity.
- Keep in the refrigerator for no more than two weeks.
Freeze it:
- Scoop the mixture into a plastic storage bag or container and seal or lid properly. Place in the refrigerator lying flat.
- Store for no more than 3 moths for optimal results.
How to re-cream stored creamed butter and sugar
When it’s finally time to purpose the creamed mixture, hopefully it’s in a period so brief, bring the refrigerated mixture into an electric mixer and beat on medium-low until softened, usually for a minute or two, and then incorporate into the recipe.
Hopefully, you’ll have a decent creaming effect. You have to make sure the butter doesn’t get warm otherwise, its emulsion is broken, and its combined effect with sugar as an aerator will not work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you cream butter and sugar in advance?
While you can, it’s best to avoid doing so due to a possible breakdown associated with over creaming the mixture while re-creaming it. Creaming butter and sugar is a very sensitive stage of baking. Skewing only marginally right or wrong can screw up whatever you’re making. So for the best advice, stick with making the creamed mixture only when you need it.
How do you know when butter and sugar are creamed enough?
A perfectly creamed butter and sugar mixture is often cool, pale ivory in color, moist, aerated in texture and the sugar will be nearly dissolved into the butter such that there is only a slight gritty feel when you rub it between your fingers.
How do you cream butter and sugar without it going everywhere?
Use an electric stand mixer for the purpose. Ensure that the butter isn’t melted already and that you’re following the exact order outlined for creaming butter and sugar which is to whip the butter first and then introduce the sugar slowly.
How to fix over creamed butter and sugar?
There is no way to fix an over creamed butter and sugar that has the butter warmed or melted. The problem is the butter which already has its structure broken down, never to be restructured! Adding more butter, sensitive as it is, would be going against ingredient proportions, and increasing sugar quantity? You already know the effects – Sweetened, denser and moist baked good that isn’t the healthiest treat for anyone battling to control their blood sugar levels.
The best solution is remake another creamed butter and sugar. Or, (you might not be against this one), use it as it is and manage the consequences!
Can you cream butter and sugar by hand?
Yes, it’s absolutely possible to cream butter and sugar by hand. It has been done this way for ages before being replace with electric stand mixers that make the work so much easier now.
To cream butter and sugar by hand, you have to make sure the butter is brought to room temperature (for 50 to 60 minutes) to soften, then beat it with a wooden spoon and then incorporate the sugar, just like the way you’d normally do it in an electric mixer.
Beat to a light fluffy mass, pale ivory in color, and your good to go.
Final Verdict
As mentioned above, creamed butter and sugar is okay to store in the refrigerator or even the freezer for a short period of time, usually two weeks in the refrigerator and no more than 3 months in the freezer. The mixture is apt to losing some of its aeration qualities due to the risk of over creaming during re-creaming, especially with the frozen one, but with the appropriate prudence observed, such downside can be easily avoided.
