Techniques › Baking and pastry
Room-temperature ingredients
Beginner Baking and pastry
Room-temperature ingredients is letting butter, eggs and dairy warm to about 65-70°F before mixing them into a batter.
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How do you do it?
1Set butter out 30-60 minutes ahead; it is ready when a finger leaves a dent but does not sink through.
2Warm cold eggs in a bowl of warm tap water for 5-10 minutes.
3Take milk, sour cream or cream cheese out 30 minutes ahead, or microwave milk in short bursts until just cool.
Why does it work?
Softened butter traps air when beaten with sugar, which helps cakes rise. Cold eggs or milk make the butter firm up and the batter look curdled, so it holds less air and bakes up denser.
What are the common mistakes?
- Melting the butter to soften it — it can no longer hold air, so cakes turn flat.
- Leaving eggs or dairy out for hours — over 2 hours puts them in the danger zone.
Still stuck? Watch someone do it on YouTube.
More baking and pastry
- FoldingMixing something light (whipped cream, beaten egg whites) into something heavier without knocking the air out.Intermediate
- Creaming butter and sugarBeating soft butter with sugar until pale and fluffy — the start of most cakes and cookies.Beginner
- KneadingWorking dough by hand or machine until smooth and stretchy.Beginner
- Proofing (letting dough rise)Letting yeast dough rest and rise before baking.Beginner
- Cutting in butterWorking cold butter into flour until it's in small lumps — pie crust, biscuits, scones.Intermediate
- Blind bakingBaking a pie crust before it's filled.Intermediate