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Combination Mixing Method
Appears in
By Culinary Institute of America
Published 2015
The combination mixing method combines the creaming mixing method with the foaming method. This combination gives the cake qualities of both methods: the rich, moist crumb of a creamed cake as well as some of the lightness of a batter that has the additional leavening power of beaten egg whites. For the combination method, beaten whites are folded into a creamed batter to add structure and leavening.
- Prepare the pan(s), assemble the ingredients, and sift the dry ingredients. When making anything using this method, as with other foamed batters, advance preparation (pan preparation, sifting, ingredient assembly, etc.) is critical to successful completion. Advance preparation is necessary to ensure that the mixing process proceeds quickly and smoothly; this will result in a batter able to maintain maximum volume before baking.
- Cream together the butter and some of the sugar. This step helps to develop air cells, which will facilitate the leavening process during baking. Evenly creamed butter and sugar will have a pale color and a light and smooth texture.
- Blend the whole eggs and/or yolks into the creamed mixture.
- Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form and then stream in the remaining sugar gradually with the mixer running on medium speed. Beat the egg whites until medium peaks form. Beaten egg whites add significant additional leavening power to the final product. The point to which they are beaten is important; if whites are beaten to stiff rather than medium peaks, the additional agitation they receive during folding will cause them to be overbeaten.
- To incorporate the egg whites into the creamed mixture while keeping as much volume as possible, first add about one-third of the beaten egg whites, blending them in gently but thoroughly, to lighten the creamed mixture. After that, the batter will accept the remaining egg whites more easily and with less vigorous mixing, allowing for less loss of volume. Gentle folding aids in preserving the volume created by the air pockets in both the existing meringue as well as in the creamed mixture. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites just until evenly blended.
Fold in the sifted dry ingredients and any garnishes quickly but gently.
The dry ingredients are added last because if they were added to the creamed mixture before the meringue, the batter would be much too stiff to accept the light, airy meringue.
- Immediately after mixing, scale the batter evenly into each prepared pan and bake.
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