Reverse Creaming Method
In this cake video tutorial, I'm going to demonstrate the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing.
Several of our popular cake recipes in the Recipes section refer to this method of mixing, (including our Classic Chocolate Cake from Scratch, Orange Dreamsicle Cake, and White Almond Sour Cream Cake to name a few) which results in a slightly denser, more velvety texture with a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth quality.
I learned of this method from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum and it has become very popular with bakers over the years. For those who are used to the conventional method of mixing, this order of mixing may seem a bit odd, but once you get used to the method, it goes very quickly (and has great results)!
Today I am making our White Almond Sour Cream Cake, which is one of our FAVORITES! (If you aren't a fan of almond, you can leave it out for an equally delicious vanilla cake!) For the recipe, Click Here!!
Notes About the Reverse Creaming Method:
The recipes in our Cake Recipes Section that use this mixing method are written up with the detailed instructions that we used in the video (re: the order, mixing times, etc.)
As we mention in the video, when adding butter to the dry ingredients, you want the mixture to be well coated with butter, but you want to stop mixing while the mixture is still crumbly. If you mix for too long, it becomes a big clump that will eventually result in a cake that doesn't rise as it should.
When adding your butter, it should be just soft enough to leave a slight impression when touched, but it should still feel chilled. If your butter becomes too soft, you can refrigerate it for a few minutes.
If you have any questions about the Conventional method of mixing, you can find our tutorial HERE!
Gotta love Rose Levy Beranbaum
Yes! I love this method, I know that she popularized this way of mixing years ago in The Cake Bible--it makes such a difference!!
Very informative. I have Rose's Book and I love it too. One of my favorites.
White Almond Sour Cream Cake is one of our all time favorites. Many of my clients ask for it! I'll give this method a try...it's an interesting method. Do you prefer one over the other when carving? Thanks for so much for the great job you both do to keep us informed and up-to-date on baking! ❤❤
Sorry...to clarify...do you prefer this method or the traditional method for mixing the batter when you need to carve a cake? ?
Hello Holly! We always make the White Almond Sour Cream Scratch Recipe using the Reverse Creaming Method (with the exception of our how to make a cake from start to finish video featuring the conventional method) ;0) -For projects that require a bit of carving, I would use the reverse creaming method because the crumb is going to be finer/denser.
Thanks you Melissa! This is exactly what I needed.
@Melissa Cox- Great, so glad it helps!
Hi Melissa
Thanks for this - I've made this recipe a few times and found it an excellent cake. Good to watch to make sure I'm doing it right!
Hi I am sooo!!! Happy to be a member of your school, The white almond recipe is great, I have a cake that will consist of several different layers. I would like to know the proper way to store cake batters while other cakes are baking, I need to make a 10 inch , 9 inch and 8 inch tier cake for someone. Your recipe will be 7 cups of batter, for the ten inch cake i will need to make this times two, 10 inch cake only needs 12 cups of batter and i will have 14 cups of batter, how do i reserve and properly keep the 2 cups of batter while the 10 inch cakes are baking and mixing the batter for the 9 inch cake and 8 inch cake. Please help me, I know when the wet ingredients are mixed with the dry ingredients it will activate the leaving agent(baking powder). I would not want to over crowd my oven causing my cakes not to cook properly, i would also like to make a day of just baking the cakes. Can I fill the cake pan with the two cups and place it in the refrigerator until ready to mix the next batter????, Very Lost and Need Your Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Carol, You are correct, the baking powder or baking soda will be activated as soon as liquid is added to the dry ingredients. It as been my experience that if it is not baked right away it will not bake properly, never rise as high as it should. I have never tried refrigerating the batter of a scratch cake recipe to bake later, but I assume it would not be an ideal result. Now when using a boxed cake mix, I have refrigerated batter while another cake was baking and the result was acceptable. Have you tried the White Almond Sour Cream doctored cake recipe? Would that be a possibility for you?
No I have not, but maybe this is what I should do in order to achieve the best cake results, will i get the same great flavor and texture with it? Again Thank You SOOO!!! much for Helping us achieve Beautiful Cakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!