How to Cream Butter in the Microwave
Many recipes call for creaming butter, which involves whipping air into the butter giving it a lighter, fluffier texture. Baking recipes in particular often require this step. Creaming butter can be challenging. Using a microwave can help cut down the time to perform this task, but care must be taken not to overheat the butter. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Butter
- Microwave oven
- Hand mixer with beater attachments and bowl
- Stand mixer with beater attachments
Instructions
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Place the butter, still in its paper wrapper on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high power for five seconds. Check the butter to see whether it has started to soften. If not, microwave for five more seconds. Continue to microwave five seconds at a time until the butter gives slightly to pressure applied by poking it with a finger. The butter should still be cool to the touch. If you cook it until it starts to slump or liquefy, you have cooked it too long.
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Place the butter into a bowl. Affix beater attachments to a stand or hand mixer.
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Whip the butter on high speed until it attains a creamy texture and a very light yellow color. With most stand mixers this will take about 30 seconds and perhaps one minute with a hand mixer. It will be soft and easily spread with a knife. Creamed butter is not just softened butter. It is beaten to lighten the texture so that it remains soft even at a temperature at which butter would normally begin to harden.
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Tips & Warnings
Creamed butter is not whipped butter; whipped butter is whipped for longer periods, infusing it with air which lightens the texture much more than in creamed butter.
