ALL ABOUT EGGS

Wonderbaking: Things you should know about eggs

At the grocery store there are dozens of different types of eggs — brown ones, whites ones, sometimes even green ones; eggs that are medium, large, and extra large. You might even see eggs from chickens, quails, or ducks!

So what should you buy for baking and pastry? Stick with large chicken eggs, unless otherwise specified in your recipe; most U.S. baking and pastry recipes are designed to be made with large-sized chicken eggs.

What do you see in an egg?

Crack an egg open and you’ll see the large, transparent egg white with the round, yellow yolk in the middle. The white is made almost entirely of proteins and water; the yolk, on the other hand, is packed full of nutrients, vitamins, and fats.

What eggs do in baking recipes?

Eggs play an important role in everything from cakes and cookies to meringues and pastry cream — they create structure and stability within a batter, they help thicken and emulsify sauces and custards, they add moisture to cakes and other baked goods, and can even act as glue or glaze.

Between the yolks, the white, and the whole egg, the functions of an egg can overlap and vary widely from recipe to recipe.

The roll of egg yolks:

Recipes that use just the yolk of an egg typically do so for the yolk’s fat content and emulsifying abilities. The fat gives baked goods extra-rich flavor and a velvety texture. The yolk also has the unique ability to bind liquids and fats together, creating an emulsion that prevents them from separating. This emulsion process helps create a more homogenous mix of ingredients — aiding in an even distribution of liquid and fats throughout a recipe for smooth batters, satiny custards, and creamy curds.

The roll of egg whites:

When egg whites are used alone, they perform an entirely different role from the yolks, especially when whipped. Whipping and using egg whites in a recipe does not have to be as intimidating as you may think, and we’ll be talking much more about this in a few days. For now, just know that whipping egg whites means incorporating millions of little air bubbles within the white. This creates a fairly stable foam that we can use to make everything from a soufflé to meringue. To help stabilize egg whites even further, we can add acidic elements, like cream of tartar and lemon juice

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