Harriet Green
Even temperatures and air is the secret to all baking, so assuming that you are treating this as a breakfast dish, leave all ingrediants on the work-station before retiring the night before. As I have stated on other occasions, bakers and pastry chefs use fresh butter (salted butter only for shortbread) and butter melts at lower temperatures (melted doesn't mean boiled) beat eggs with fork for more air and hold a sieve about eighteen inches above a large bowl to aeroate the flour. Cookware shops sell flour sifters that were never designed by bakers. Use a hand sieve and hold it high, let the flour snow into the bowl and add flour to recipe gently AS you mix and avoid lumping.