All Cooking Tips and Kitchen Guide » Mixing Techniques

Biscuit and Muffin Mixing Methods

Amanda — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 11:48:13 +0000

Biscuit Method

This method is similar to the pastry method except that all the dry ingredients – flour, salt and leavening are first combined. The fat is then cut into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Liquid is added last. The dough is mixed just until moistened and not more or the biscuits will be tough.

Muffin Method

This is a simple, two-stage mixing method. The dry and moist ingredients are mixed separately and then combined and blended until the dry ingredients just become moist. Over-mixing will result in a tough baked product riddled with tunnels.

Pastry-Blend Mixing Method

Amanda — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:54:26 +0000

Fat is first cut into flour with a pastry blender, or with two knives criss-crossed against each other in a scissor-like fashion, to form a mealy fat-flour mixture. Half the milk and all of the sugar, baking powder, and salt are then blended into the fat-flour mixture. Lastly, eggs and more milk may then be blended into the mixture.

Single Stage Mixing Method

Amanda — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 15:37:25 +0000

In the single stage method, also known as the “quick-mix”, “one-bowl” or “dump” method, all the dry and liquid ingredients are mixed together at once. Packaged mixes for cakes, biscuits, and other baked goods rely on a single-stage method. Only baked products containing higher proportions of sugar, liquid, and possibly an emulsifier in the shortening can be mixed by this method. Starting with the dry ingredients in a bowl, the fat (usually vegetable oil), part of the milk, and the flavoring are added and stirred for a specified number of strokes or amount of time (if an electric mixer is being used). The eggs and remaining liquid are then added, and the batter is mixed again for a specified period of time. The sequence and mixing of ingredients is important, because creaming is not a part of the process. To attain a uniform blend, the bottom and sides of the bowl should be scraped frequently. Quick-mix batters are more fluid than conventional batters.

Conventional Sponge Method

Amanda — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:24:02 +0000

The conventional sponge method, also known as the conventional meringue method, is identical to the creaming method except that a portion of the sugar is mixed in with the beaten egg or egg white, and the egg foam is folded into the batter in the end. The conventional sponge method is preferred for foam or sponge cakes because it contributes volume, and for baked goods made with soft fats whose creamed foam breaks and releases much of its incorporated air when egg yolks are added. In either case, the air in the foam that is folded in during the last stage increases volume.

Conventional Creaming Method

Amanda — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:44:43 +0000

The conventional method, also known as the creaming or cake method, is the most time consuming, and is the method most frequently used for mixing cake ingredients. It produces a fine-grained, velvety texture. The three basic steps are:

Creaming
Egg incorporation
Alternate addition of the dry and moist ingredients

The fat and sugar are creamed together by working the fat until it is light and foamy and then gradually adding small portions of sugar until all of it is well blended. A well-creamed combination of fat and sugar incorporates air while suspending sugar crystals and air bubbles in the fat. As the fat melts during baking, it creates air cells which migrate toward the liquid, resulting in a very fine-grained texture.

The eggs or egg yolks are then added one at a time to the creamed fat and sugar. An alternative method is to whip the egg whites separately and fold them into the cake batter after all the other ingredients have been mixed.

Finally, flour, baking powder or soda, and salt are sifted together with other dry ingredients such as cocoa in order to distribute the leavening agent evenly. The sifted dry ingredients, divided into three or five portions, are then added alternately with a liquid (usually milk) into the fat, sugar and egg base. After one portion of dry ingredients has been incorporated, a portion of liquid is added and stirred or beaten until well blended. The process begins and ends with the dry ingredients.

As with any type of mixing method, too much or too little stirring can cause problems. Over-stirring a cake batter creates such a viscous mass that the cake may not be able to rise during baking, and the texture will tend to be fine but compact or lower in volume, full of tunnels, and have a peaked instead of a rounded top. Too little stirring can also result in a low-volume cake from an uneven distribution of the baking powder or soda or an incorporation of air into the foam. The texture of an under-stirred cake tends to contain large pores, have a crumbly grain, and brown excessively.

About mixing

Amanda — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 16:09:39 +0000

“Mixing” is a general term that includes beating, blending, binding, creaming, whipping, and folding. In mixing, two or more ingredients are evenly dispersed in one another until they become one product. This, in general, is what the other processes accomplish also, but there are distinctions.

Beat. The ingredients are moved vigorously in a back-and-forth, up-and-down, and around-and-around motion until they are smooth.
Blend. Ingredients are mixed so thoroughly that they become one.
Bind. Occurs when ingredients adhere to each other, as when breading is bound to fish.
Cream. To beat fat and sugar together until they take on a light, airy texture.
Whip. Very vigorous mixing, usually with a beater of some type, that incorporates air into such foods as whipping cream and egg whites.
Fold. One ingredient is gently incorporated into another by hand with a large spoon or spatula.

There are many methods for combining the ingredients of cakes and other baked products, but the most commonly used are the conventional creaming, conventional sponge, single-stage quick-mix, pastry-blend, biscuit, and muffin methods.