The Lingo

A lot of recipes use specific lingo invented by sheilas. A lot of the words sound overly pansy so we'll try to avoid them but there are some things you'll just need to know.

Creaming. Yeah, sounds rude but it's just softening butter and (usually) stirring in sugar with a whisk until it is creamy in texture. Often the recipe will guide you on this and ask you to get the mixture to a point that your wife would call ‘light and fluffy'.

Folding. Know when to hold 'em - know when to fold 'em, right. Ah - no. Often used when you're mixing wet and dry ingredients for baking or heavy ingredients with lighter ones. It essentially means work the two together slowly by going down through the middle and working up around the outside. You can do whatever you like but when it says 'fold' it means 'don't mix furiously'. Be gentle.

Grease. Is slapping a bit of butter round the inside of a tin so the cake/muffin/pie doesn't stick to it. The thing here is - don't put too much. It's pointless and a waste of valuable butter. You can also use oil spray if you're one of those lactose intolerant types of Girly-Men.

Ice. Does not mean kill. Put icing on the finished product.

Knead. Press together quickly (preferably using your knuckles). Often you have to knead a dough, then bring it all back into a lump and knead it out again.

Sit. It's what you do while the thing is baking. Also means to leave the cake/muffins/pie somewhere your wife/kids/mates can't get at it until it cools down enough to ice.

Stiffly Beat. It refers to egg white. The beaten eggs will stand up, still soft and they're shiney or glossy to look at.