Will the reverse creaming method make pound cake more or less dense?

[cherrycoke]

Will the reverse creaming method change the density of pound cake?

 

[doughytard]

My go to pound cake recipe is reverse creamed, I think it's the perfect denseness. A touch heavier than when Ive made similiar recipes with the more traditional creaming method but it's also somehow more velvety and has a nicer crumb if that makes any sense? I don't know, I'll never make it any other way.

 

[cherrycoke]

My go to pound cake recipe is reverse creamed, I think it's the perfect denseness. A touch heavier than when Ive made similiar recipes with the more traditional creaming method but it's also somehow more velvety and has a nicer crumb if that makes any sense? I don't know, I'll never make it any other way.

I was looking for heavier, sounds lovely. Thanks so much!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Denser because there is no mechanical leavening (creaming butter and sugar).

Creaming butter and sugar is not mixing/blending two ingredients, rather it is mechanical leavening.

In creaming butter, the sugar crystals cut through the butter and create pockets.

When baking starts, the water and acids in the batter activate the leavening and creates CO2 bubbles.

The butter expands as the air pockets fill with air bubbles, giving the batter more rise.

None of this happens with reversed creamed batters since there are no pockets in the butter to fill with air.

So reverse creaming will always make a denser cake because the mechanical leavening has been eliminated.

 

[cherrycoke]

Denser because there is no mechanical leavening (creaming butter and sugar).

Creaming butter and sugar is not mixing/blending two ingredients, rather it is mechanical leavening.

In creaming butter, the sugar crystals cut through the butter and create pockets.

When baking starts, the water and acids in the batter activate the leavening and creates CO2 bubbles.

The butter expands as the air pockets fill with air bubbles, giving the batter more rise.

None of this happens with reversed creamed batters since there are no pockets in the butter to fill with air.

So reverse creaming will always make a denser cake because the mechanical leavening has been eliminated.

Fantastic explanation. Highly appreciate it.