Techniques

What Does Creaming Butter and Sugar Mean?

Creaming: To beat soft butter with sugar until the mixture turns pale and fluffy, trapping tiny air bubbles that help cakes and cookies rise.

In the kitchen

Start with butter that is soft but still cool, and beat it with the sugar for a few minutes until it lightens in color and looks fluffy. Scrape down the bowl once or twice so nothing stays unmixed.

Sugar crystals cut air pockets into the fat, and that structure is what gives pound cake and drizzle cake their tender crumb. Rubbing lemon zest into the sugar first makes the flavor more even.