# Cooking question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question/161054 "2003-03-13T07:08:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question/161054/21 "2003-03-14T07:47:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sturmhauke \* > \*\*For omlettes, you can put a little milk in with the eggs, about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon per egg. Maybe not as fluffy as the egg white method, but a lot easier. \*\* This is inadvisable for omelets and especially not for baking. Milk’s additional proteins and caseins help to “tighten” the egg as it cooks giving it a dense and chewy texture. A splash of water will provide steam to fluff things up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question/161054/22 "2003-03-14T13:18:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*This is inadvisable for omelets and especially not for baking. Milk’s additional proteins and caseins help to “tighten” the egg as it cooks giving it a dense and chewy texture. A splash of water will provide steam to fluff things up a bit. \*\* That’s right - I used to use milk, but using water makes a ‘better’ omellete. ---
**Author:** ![Thisissoghey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thisissoghey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thisissoghey)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question/161054/23 "2003-03-14T13:33:25Z")
I am too inept to follow all these directions. I eventually said screw it and didn’t make the cake. Thanks though! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question/161054/24 "2003-03-14T13:48:41Z")
Sorry it didn’t work! Cakes are, as far as baked things go, kind of complicated; you might want to try some other stuff before moving on to cakes. Corn bread is super-easy and quick. Most muffin recipes and even coffee cake recipes are pretty simple. If you can find a copy of _The Cake Bible_, it uses a different technique than most recipes for making cakes. I find its recipes generally much, much simpler than their counterparts in other books. [Here’s a sample lemon poppyseed pound cake recipe](http://www.thecakebible.com/index2.html?home=home2.html) from the book. Do you have any friends or family members who bake? If so, see if they’ll let you help them make something. That’s the best way, I think, to learn to cook: watching someone else do the techniques is really valuable. Better luck next time! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question/161054/25 "2003-03-14T13:51:26Z")
Start with some simpler recipes ‘all in one’ is a good phrase to search on; I made an all in one chcolate sponge on the weekend (as the basis of a gateau) - you just throw all the ingrdients in a bowl, mix, tip into a cake tin and bake - couldn’t be simpler. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question/161054.md?page=1)