Folding

Stiffly beaten egg whites (and whipped cream) are folded into other ingredients rather than stirred, to keep them from collapsing. To fold, spoon about a third of the beaten egg whites on to the ingredients they are to be mixed with. Using a flat, wooden spatula (a wooden spoon may be used, but it’s not as efficient), cut down through the egg whites to the bottom of the bowl, then lift or scoop the other ingredients up onto the egg whites, giving the bowl a quarter-turn as you do so. Repeat this motion until the two are mixed together, then add the remaining egg whites and continue in the same manner. The final mixture should be perfectly homogenous, with no unmixed particles in it.