How to cream butter and sugar without a mixer

Inspired by conversations on the Food52 Hotline, we're sharing tips and tricks that make navigating all of our kitchens easier and more fun.

Today: How to cream butter and sugar the old-fashioned way.

Photos by James Ransom 

Forget, for a moment, the 20-minute meals. Push the no-bake desserts out of your mind. Ask the 5-minute lunches to take a walk, just for a minute. 

Sometimes we want to be romantic about cooking, to do things with our own two hands. To do our non-appliance-wielding grandmothers proud. When we do, we're going to have to know how to live without the mixers and the beaters of the world. (And, okay, sometimes you just don't have a mixer nearby — thanks, Airbnb kitchen.) 

After you read this post, you'll be able to cream butter and sugar without anything but a bowl, a wooden spoon, and a fork. Dessert's likely going to take you a little bit longer. Your arms are going to be a little more tired. But you're going to let appliances steal none of the glory, and you'll be rewarded well: with cookies, quick breads, cakes — hat you've made with your own two hands. Which sounds like an occasion worth celebrating with another cookie . . . 

Step one: Soften your butter. 
This, of course, is a hands-off process, but if you want the best results, it does require a spry mind, or at least a functioning Google calendar. Friends, you must remember to take your butter out of the fridge or the freezer. 

If it's in the fridge, take it out about two hours before you plan on using it, depending on how warm your resident counter is. If it's holing up in the freezer, move it to the fridge two days beforehand, and then follow the fridge protocol. Last-minute butter softeners, we direct you to our community's wonderful solutions. And we urge you to remember next time. Soft butter is your BFF when creaming by hand.

Step two: Combine the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon. 
To get the process started off on the right foot, make like you'd mix anything else together. This will set you up for success when you move on to step three. You can start with a wooden spoon, and mash the ingredients against one another. If your butter isn't perfectly soft, you can get in there with your two hands — working the sugar into the butter will help it soften and combine.

Step three: Break out the fork. 
This is the tool you'll use to faux-cream. Using the back of a fork (choose one that is leggy with long tines), start beating the butter and sugar together, in the same motion you'd use to whisk your scrambled eggs. Keep at it — enlist a friend if you're not ambidextrous — until there are no longer any streaks of butter. You're looking for uniform, fluffy texture and a slightly lighter color. Depending on how much butter and sugar you have, this could take anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. 

Keep in mind that, unless you're somewhat of a bodybuilder, you won't get the same lift (aka aeration) in your baked goods that you might with a stand mixer. But does it really matter? You've just creamed butter and sugar, appliance-free. And that's going to taste pretty darn great.

Additional ideas from the editors:

OK, let's get baking!

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