Mixing Words

Stir, whisk, beat, fold and cream all mean mixing, but each one asks for a different move. Learn what every mixing word means.

Recipes use special words for mixing, and each one tells you how fast and how hard to go. Learn these five and the mixing steps in your recipes will make sense.

You will learn

• What stir, whisk and beat mean
• What fold and cream mean
• Which tool to use for each word

What you need

• A big bowl
• A wooden spoon
• A whisk
• A rubber spatula
• Flour or water to practice with
• Your grown-up

Steps

1. StirWash your hands first, and check every ingredient with your grown-up for allergies. To stir means to move a spoon around the bowl in slow circles until everything is mixed. A wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, which is a flat, bendy scraper on a handle, works well. If you practice in flour, no tasting, because raw flour can carry germs.
2. WhiskA whisk is a tool made of wire loops. To whisk means to move it quickly in circles or back and forth. Whisking breaks up lumps, mixes dry ingredients together and adds a little air.
3. BeatTo beat means to mix hard and fast until something is smooth or fluffy. You can beat with a wooden spoon, and it takes some muscle. If the recipe uses an electric mixer, that is your grown-up's job.
4. FoldTo fold means to mix very gently so you keep the air in. Push a spatula down through the middle, scrape along the bottom, then lift and turn the mix over on top. Folding is how bakers add berries and chips.
5. CreamTo cream means to beat soft butter and sugar together until the mix turns pale and fluffy. It is the first step in many cookie and cake recipes. Creaming adds tiny air bubbles that help bakes rise.

Try it

• 
  Little Helpers

  Vanilla Blueberry Muffins

• 
  Little Helpers

  Strawberry Cheesecake Dip

Check yourself