Dice butter by getting your exact amount out of your fridge. The butter should be cold before dicing.
Put the butter on a cutting board. Slice the butter using a knife every 1 cm.
Slice the butter the opposite way creating squares that are 1 cm in thickness.
Turn the butter onto it’s side, and slice the butter horizontally every 1 cm. Now you have diced your butter to create cubes of butter that are 1 cm x 1 cm x 1 cm.
What is cold butter
Cold butter is butter that is in the fridge which has a temperature of 2-6 degrees Celsius. Typically cold butter is used to cut into recipes used for baking scones and pastry.
How to cut butter into flour using a food processor
Cutting butter into flour with a food processor is very simple.
- Set up your food processor using your S blade.
- Place all of your dry ingredients into the food processor.
- Place cold butter that has been cubed into the food processor.
- Pulse the food processor in short intervals until the butter/flour mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
How to slice butter
Butter that needs to be sliced must be at fridge temperature. Get a sharp knife and put the butter on a cutting board. Place your knife as close to the edge of the butter as possible and push down your knife into the butter. Your butter should cut nicely into sections.
What is the tool that cuts fat into flour
The tool that is used to cut fat into flour is called a pastry blender. A pastry blender has sharp metal running the length of the tool that cuts butter into sections. The pastry blender is pressed into the butter and then turn a 1/4 turn when in the dry ingredients. This creates the coarse crumbs.
How to grate butter without a grater
Have your butter in the freezer before you try to grate your butter. If you don’t have a grater, you can use a potato peeler to grate butter for your recipe. A potato peeler is an easy to use tool to grate butter without a grater. It will create longer strands of butter than a grater, but it will work in a pinch.
What can you bake with unsalted butter
Unsalted butter is used in baking for recipes that need a controlled amount of salt. Salt can add a lot of flavor in recipes which can ruin the flavor if you use salted butter instead of unsalted butter. Unsalted butter is much fresher than salted butter. Unsalted butter is only has a shelf life for 1 month, versus 3-4 months for salted butter.
You can bake several foods with unsalted butter:
- Croissant dough
- Pastry cream
- Scones
- Caramel sauce
- Pastry
- Pie crust
- Tart shells
Why do you cut butter into flour?
Butter is cut into flour to create small pieces of butter that resemble coarse crumbs. The small pieces of butter melt into the dough as it bakes. This creates flakes of buttery pastry that melt in your mouth. Pastries that are made with butter that is cut into flour need to be carefully mixed when adding liquid ingredients. The pastry dough should not be overmixed. Make sure you use gentle mixing for your making your pastry dough.