bakingcakedough
Is there any particular technique for stirring dough (particularly cake dough) that is to be recommended? When I stir dough, I find that I develop too much gluten (i.e. it gets too chewy) and don't get all of the flour mixed in.
Any suggestions?
edit: Reference to cake.
First, I wouldn't call it a roux. There is a difference in flour gelation when the flour is presoaked in fat (as in roux) and directly mixed with water (as in pate a choux). The butter in pate a choux doesn't coat the flour first the way it does for a roux. Plus, a roux is prepared with way more liquid.
As for a proper name of this kind of dough, I don't think there is one - for the simple reason that nobody has a proper use for it. I mean, you don't give a name to every stage of the mixture when preparing a batter, so why should you do it for pate a choux?
This is what McGee has to say on pate a choux. Note that the eggs are important for both texture (the "richness of yolks" smooths it, probably more due to the lecithine than the fat) and structure (egg whites trap the air pockets). So why should anybody ever make it without the eggs? And if it isn't used as anything but a prestage of pate a choux, why give it a name?
As for the uses of pate a choux, Ruhlman gives a fairly comprehensive list in Ratio. It mentions
I mix dough in my kitchenAide all the time, and this happens all the time, so through the process I check the consistency and dryness and I've developed a feel for the "just right formula", but being ADHD I don't go in with precise measurements each time, but that would be a good idea once perfection is found. So anywho, I take a strong spatula from time to time and cut it of the hook, to give it a nice restart with hook on outside of dough ball. but your dough needs to be dry enough that it is cleaning itself off the bowl and it will the hook too. It's designed to find that perfect balance so that it starts wet and sticky and then as the gluten starts to web it becomes self cleaning, and the kneading is drying it a little or maybe the material is absorbing the liquid, either way it goes from dry to wet. Another thing I do if the hook is wrapped in dough instead of working against the sides, I briefly turn up the speed and that will throw the dough to the sides and sometimes clean it.
Best Answer
You generally don't stir cake batter at all.
Where I learned to bake, we were taught that if you want a light and fluffy cake, as is generally the case, then you should fold in the dry ingredients (including flour). That means using a flat surface - a silicone spatula works great but you could even use your hand in a pinch - sliding it down the edge of the bowl, and using a turning motion (i.e. folding) to incorporate the flour, repeating several times until there are no longer any large clumps of dry ingredients.
When you fold, it's very difficult to over-mix. And particularly with cakes and quick breads, under-mixing a little is actually OK, because the batter tends to be quite moist and eventually the moisture will seep through to any unincorporated flour - and if it doesn't, you'll get a nice spongy texture.
Commercial mixers actually have paddle attachments for folding large amounts of batter. You don't need a special mixer, though; you just need to be gentle and conservative with your mixing.
Not every cake is the same, and some recipes may specifically call for you to whisk the batter (for which you should use a balloon whisk, not a spoon or spatula) instead of folding, but if it just says to "mix" the batter then I would using the folding technique.