What to do if butter oil and water separate

When making pastries, butter needs to be mixed with gluten, sugar, other seasonings and water. Our requirement is that the butter and other ingredients are mixed together. If the butter and water are separated, it is recommended to add a spoonful of gluten powder and stir evenly. The butter must be softened before baking. This process is not complicated. If you have time, you can let it soften for a while. If you are in a hurry, you can heat it in the microwave to speed up the softening process.

If oil and water separation occurs, is there any way to remedy it?

At this time, you can scoop out a large spoonful of the low-gluten flour in the original recipe and add it to the butter, then stir evenly at low speed until it returns to a cream state.

Why should butter be softened?

The hardness of butter will vary with temperature. Over-softened or over-softened butter will not be able to saturate it with air, so pay special attention to the degree of softening of the butter. To beat butter, you need to soften it until you can easily press fingerprints with your fingers. Add sugar to the butter of moderate hardness and mix well to allow air to fill it. At the same time, be careful to avoid over-softening, because once the butter becomes liquid, its emulsification property will disappear. At this time, even if you add sugar and keep stirring, you will no longer be able to fill it with air.

How to soften?

The best way to soften butter is to take it out of the refrigerator 1 to 2 hours in advance, cut it into small pieces, and leave it at room temperature to soften naturally. In winter, it needs to be placed in a warm place. If time is tight, you can also place small pieces of butter in a glass bowl and thaw them in the microwave. When the butter needs to be whipped, do not try to soften it by heating it in a water bath. Heating it in a water bath will turn the butter into liquid form, and liquid butter cannot be beaten with air.

Why do eggs need to be added in small amounts at a time?

Adding eggs to whipped butter is to fully mix the oily butter with the eggs containing more water so that they do not separate, that is, to emulsify them. In order for the emulsification process to proceed smoothly, room temperature eggs must be used, and they must be added in small amounts at several times. Most importantly, each addition must be quickly and evenly stirred. The butter is whipped into a smooth cream. If the operation is not done properly, the oil and water will separate and the air filled in the butter will disappear. This will affect the expansion effect of the butter. This causes the baked cakes or cookies to be firm rather than soft.