Baking 101: a series of how-tos and whatโs what when it comes to home baking. The small stuff, explained.
A recipe that calls for beaten egg whites can be intimidating enough. There is enough fear around getting the mixing bowl dry and grease-free enough to fluff the egg whites to frighten even a seasoned baker. Having to then fold those egg whites into batter can feel, well… like too much. How does one fold a fluffy ingredient into a dense wet ingredient? This is nothing like the time I spent a summer folding shirts at The Gap (in my imagination because I always wanted to work at The Gap because it seemed sooooo cool but wwhhhyyy!?), and also nothing like the time I spend four minutes trying to fold a fitted sheet before deciding that the task is 100% IMPOSSIBLE (because dammit IT IS! and don’t you dare send me a Martha Stewart link about it because I will not I will not I will not).
What I’m trying to say is, folding egg whites is possible and sometimes necessary and if I can do it, you can do it.
How To Fold Egg Whites:
- Get ready. Gather your batter in a large bowl (it’s going to get fluffy), your stiffly beaten egg whites, and a rubber spatula.
โข Add a small portion (a spatula-full) of egg whites to the batter. We’re adding a small amount at first to help loosen the more dense batter.
โข Using the spatula on its side, slice down the center of the bowl from the top towards you, bisecting the egg whites and batter. We obviously aren’t cutting the batter, we’re momentarily and temporarily dividing it in two.
โข As the spatula is pulled towards you, flip it to the left, scooping up the batter to the left, and ‘folding’ it over the egg whites.
โข Bisect the dough again and fold over. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn to the left, use the side of the spatula to bisect the dough and fold again. Repeat until the spoonful of egg whites is almost entirely incorporated.
โข Add another large spatula-full of egg whites and fold in the same manner; slicing down the center of the batter and whites, folding over to the left, rotating the bowl and repeating.
As you add more egg whites, the batter will begin to lighten and fluff. The key is to fully incorporate the egg whites into the denser batter while maintaining some of the fluff of the egg whites. This will lighten the batter.
โข Folding egg whites is a matter of technique and patience. It takes time, simple folding, and bowl rotation. The end result will be a fluffy batter that bakes up light an airy. This is a great technique for pancakes and light cake batters. Also really wonderful if you need to zone out in the kitchen and get a light arm work out.
Happy Baking!
24 Responses
This is the type of thing that really needs a quick video. I know there are probably loads on YouTube, but how about one from you, Joy?
Knowing how to fold egg whites is an essential skill for baking. The problem is, if you do it wrong it can ruin the whole recipe! These instructions work every time.
Folding egg whites into a batter is always very challenging even for the amazing chefs and requires love and patience in doing it. Trying to be a master even after years of practice.
Egg whites can be so difficult. Not enough folding and your batter isn’t properly blended, too much folding and you lose the air from the beaten whites. I’ll have to give your quarter turn technique a try. It’s folding in the egg whites that has kept me away from making macarons for the last few years. Perhaps it’s time to try again with this information.
i have been following you blog for a while. even though i am in my seventies and have cooked for a good many years i still learn from your ideas.my thinking is you are never to old to learn. It is wonderful to see the younger cooks seeking out ideas to get away from precooked foods and boxed items.. The chemicals they add is alarming and dangerous. keep up the good ideas and hard work. My daughter in law has a blog and she is enjoying new ideas.
Hi Barbara! I am also an older cook, in my sixties, but have been away from the kitchen for a good few years, so it’s helpful to get a refresher from Joy on basic techniques. I am definitely with you on getting away from processed foods — especially many of the baked items where sugar is almost the first ingredient!
Hi Joy! I love your blog and use your recipes often. I know this is a rather random comment, but this post had something to do with eggs so I figured my inquiry would not be too off the mark haha. Anyhow, I was wondering if you knew of a good universal buttercream to use to make chocolate covered cream-filled eggs. It would be my first time experimenting with candy-making and I am not too sure of a good recipe. Thanks for considering!
Yo! Not Joy here. And not with a buttercream recipe. I found this recipe & video tutorial online. As a native Kiwi with fond memories of the original & legit gooey Cadbury creme egg, this one looks pretty good (based purely on the visual goo factor). I haven’t tested this recipe, but I’m curious.
https://www.popsugar.com/food/Homemade-Cadbury-Creme-Eggs-34591277
Hi! Thanks for that! I love those so much too and too bad that Hershey’s took them over in the U.S. such a tragedy honestly. I will have to make these! :)
This is great! Also struggled doing this with a family recipe ( bourbon pound cake) which requires folding 8 egg whites into the denser batter.
Enjoying this series. I always taught my Home Ec students how to fold the flour and sugar into their beaten egg whites when they made Angel Food Cakes. That was always such a fun lab.
LMAO feelin u on the fitted sheet. I’ve probably watched 10 youtube videos and have decided that the sheets have the problem not me!!!!
Loving all the baking tips!
After having worked at the Gap for 5 years in high school and college, I still can’t fold a fitted sheet. But you better believe my clothing closet is gap style folded and looks immaculate :)
Thanks so much for posting this Baking 101 series. I’ve been sharing a few of them with my readers as well, because, well, baking can be downright scary sometimes! :)
Thanks for the tip!
My mom taught me how to fold a fitted sheet when I was really young and I’ve never had a problem with it since. Oddly enough, it’s the flat sheet that gives me problems. They’re never perfectly “square” and so the corner seams don’t match up and it ends up either being a lumpy bumpy mess or all these jagged unmatched edges that drive me nuts. I’m probably not making any sense. :-/
I do appreciate the egg folding tutorial. The dividing in the middle thing is something that I never thought of. I always start at the outside edges of the dough and fold inward. And I’ve always added all the whites at once. Or whipped cream, as the case may be. I assume folding in whipped cream is the same as folding in egg whites. But I can see where starting off with a small scoop would be helpful.
Hi Joy! Love your site and first time I am commenting…to ask a question. Is it the same procedure for making macarons? It’s the one thing I just can’t seem to be able to conquer in my baking. Any tips/help would be welcome, thanks! <3
Thanks so much for this post- I’ve always felt like I was mixing it in too hard rather than folding and now I know what I was doing wrong!
It is a useful post to use raw eggs in baking.Really helpful.
Gluten Free Gifts
Hi Joy!
Love your posts and first time I am venturing to comment…only to ask a question: Do we do the same thing for macaron batter? It’s the one thing I simply cannot seem to conquer in my baking endeavors so any tips would be more than welcome :) Thanks, and you’re awesome, btw <3
Yo! Macaron’s are tricky devils to master. I hate to direct traffic away from Joy the Baker, but there are a butt ton of superbly detailed posts online.
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2015/08/12/step-by-step-guide-to-french-macarons/
https://www.bakerella.com/macarons/
I also found watching YouTube clips super helpful, as you can see the consistency the batter is supposed to be.
Happy whipping/folding/piping/filling/eating.
Thanks Rae! Will check it out :)
When a recipe calls for beating egg whites and folding them into something gets me all anxious. This has given me hope!
I love a post like this. I always just pretended I knew what I was doing but now I really know!
And I feel you on the fitted sheet. Just roll them up and toss them somewhere you won’t see them again until you need one.