To beat.—Tip the bowl to one side. Bring the spoon or fork quickly down into the mixture and through it, take it out the other side and bring it over and down again, scraping the sides well each time it goes in.
It is important to keep the bowl of the spoon well scraped out during mixing.
Beat quickly and hard.
To cut or fold.—Turn over the mixture with a spoon and lift it up, folding in the white of egg as lightly as possible. Do not stir or beat but mix very gently until quite blended.
To beat eggs.—It is generally best to beat the yolks and whites separately. For beating them there is nothing better than a Dover egg beater, although a fork can be used for the yolks and a steel knife for the whites.
Beat the yolks in a bowl until they thicken and become light and creamy.
Beat the whites on a platter until they are stiff and absolutely dry.
To beat butter.—In beating butter to a cream, if very hard it can be slightly warmed in the oven or put into a hot bowl, but it must on no account be melted. It should just be softened in order to make it more easy to beat it.
To grease and fill tins.—Tins can be greased with fresh butter, lard or sweet oil. Sides and bottom should be evenly but not thickly smeared with grease.
When a tin is to be lined with paper, cut a piece to fit the bottom exactly, another piece to go right round the sides. This piece should project two or three inches above the top of the tin.