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 Folding
is a gentle mixing method. You use
the folding technique to gently combine light and airy mixtures, such as
beaten egg whites with a heavier
mixture, such as a batter,
whipped cream
or
flour or when
folding in melted chocolate or butter into
a batter. For example, when beaten egg whites are folded
into a batter, it is done so they will retain as much of their volume as
possible. Folding also traps extra air in the
batter. In a recipe, sometimes the air pockets
that occur need to be eliminated by running a small metal spatula or knife
through the batter before baking.
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 When folding
two warm mixtures together, it is important for both of them to be at
approximately the same temperature. This is so they will combine together
smoothly. If one mixture is significantly cooler than the other, the warmer
one will form clumps when the two are folded together. |
Folding is usually done after the main ingredients of the
recipe have been blended together. The lighter mixture is placed on top of the
heavier one in a large bowl. Starting at the back of the bowl, a rubber spatula
is used to cut down vertically through the two mixtures, across the bottom of
the bowl and up the nearest side. The bowl is rotated a quarter turn with each
series of strokes. This down-across-up-and-over motion gently turns the mixtures
over on top of each other, combining them in the process.
When folding, I prefer to use a clean and dry
rubber spatula. For
angel food cakes, a large balloon whisk, or
slotted skimmer is ideal for folding in the flour with the least amount of air
loss. A spatula can be used when making a soufflé.
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Fold
very carefully so the egg whites don't lose their volume. |
Always fold gently but thoroughly, but don't
over- or under- do it. Often a characteristic
of cakes that have beaten egg whites over-folded with a batter, is that they
don't rise as high when baked; the delicate air bubbles have been popped during
the process. On the other hand, when the batter has not been folded
sufficiently, there is a sticky wet layer found on the bottom of the pan after
baking.
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FOLDING BASICS:
Folding stiffly beaten egg whites into another mixture must
be done by hand. Using a large rubber spatula, quickly but gently cut into
the middle of the mixture. Bring the bottom of the batter up and over the
remaining mixture. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn with each folding
motion. Fold gently to retain as much air as possible. Stop folding when
no white streaks remain.
If folding stiffly beaten egg whites into a very thick
or heavy mixture, first stir in about a quarter of the whites. This will
loosen the mixture and enable the remainder of the beaten whites to be
folded in with ease. |
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1.
To start, make sure the batter is placed in a large bowl. Stir it
gently right before folding in the beaten egg whites so it is completely
mixed. When ready to fold, stir a big spoonful of
egg whites into the mixture and gently
stir with your whisk to lighten the batter. This will help the rest of the
egg whites fold more easily into the mixture. Never add the batter to the
whipped whites or they'll deflate. |
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2.
Then with a rubber scraper, scoop about half of the
remaining egg whites on top. Finally,
still using your rubber scraper, starting on the top, cut down from the
center of the mixture to the bottom of the bowl, then draw the scraper
quickly toward you against the edge of it, and up to the left and out. You
are thus bringing a bit of the mixture at the bottom of the pan up over
the egg whites or "folding it over".. |
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3.
Then turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat until you only see slight
streaks of white. You will need to scrape the sides of the bowl a few
times to keep the mixture from climbing up the sides. |
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4.
Add in the remaining beaten egg whites. Continue the folding movement
while slowly rotating the bowl, and cutting down, toward you, and out to
the left, until the egg whites have been folded into the body of the
batter. The whole process should not take more than a minute, and do not
attempt to be too thorough to risk deflating the egg whites. Stop when the
batter looks evenly streaked with beaten egg whites and batter. |
- Follow
steps 1 - 4, above.
- After measuring, sift about half of the flour
over the top of the egg whites/batter mixture and again fold with a gentle
hand. Sifting helps to aerate the flour making it easier to fold.
- Cut through the center and bring the spatula
towards you, turn the bowl and repeat. Be sure to touch the bottom of the bowl
and to bring any flour pockets to the surface.
- When you just start to see only fine streaks
of flour, add the second amount and repeat.
- The finished batter has lost its gloss, but is
light and airy and the interior resembles a sponge.
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2 |
You can use a fine mesh strainer as a
sifter. |
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4 |
5 |
For example, if your recipe says
"Fold melted butter into the batter", you do the following: In
genoise cake recipes, where melted
fat is usually folded into the batter, this happens frequently with a loss of
valuable air previously beaten in. So follow the tips, below:
The great French pastry chef Gaston Lenotre introduced a
technique to make the process easier:
- Soften or melt butter. Place in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Let cool to tepid.
- Mix in 1 cup of cake batter.
- Then, fold in the rest of the batter.
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  Question:
Why should I fold in the flour mixture by hand rather than using my
electric mixer indicated in your mixing instructions, step#4 ?
Answer: I
find I get a more delicate cookie texture when I do. Folding is a gentle
mixing method which I prefer to use in this step when making cookies. When
you combine wheat flour, such as unbleached all-purpose and moisture, such
as water found in the dough from eggs and butter, and stir the two
together, you create gluten.
Wheat is the only grain with
significant amounts of gluten-forming potential. Two proteins found in
wheat flour, glutenin and gliadin, form an elastic substance known as
gluten when stirred with moisture. These two proteins grab water and
connect and cross-connect to form elastic strands of gluten. If flour has
a lot of these proteins, it grabs up water faster, making strong and
springy gluten.
The magical and elastic gluten network that forms serves
many functions in a recipe. Like a net, gluten traps and holds air
bubbles. They later expand from the gas from the leavening when a recipe
is baked, causing the dough or batter to rise. During baking, the
stretched flour proteins (gluten) become rigid as the moisture evaporates
from the heat of the oven, and sets the baked goods' structure. The
viscoelastic properties of gluten provide the perfect combination of
elasticity and rigidity by expanding with the gas while still holding its
shape. No other grain has been able to replace this function of wheat in
baking.
Flour's strength is determined by its gluten content and
mixing -- both work in concert together: if mixed too much, the cookie’s
texture toughens and becomes dry or too little, the cookie will crumble.
Folding is a gentle mixing method which I find helps
prevent overmixing when adding flour as the final step when making cookie
dough. Usually you use the folding technique to gently combine light and
airy mixtures, such as
beaten egg whites
with a heavier mixture, such as a batter,
whipped cream
or
flour or when
folding in melted
chocolate or butter into a batter.
Folding is usually done after the main
ingredients of the recipe have been blended together. The lighter mixture,
in this case flour, baking powder and salt, are placed on top of the
heavier one, the butter, sugar and egg mixture in a large bowl. Starting
at the back of the bowl, a rubber spatula is used to cut down vertically
through the two mixtures, across the bottom of the bowl and up the nearest
side. The bowl is rotated a quarter turn with each series of strokes. This
down-across-up-and-over motion gently turns the mixtures over on top of
each other, combining them in the process. |
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