We use eggs in dessert recipes all the time, but have you ever wondered exactly what do eggs do in baking? Eggs are real baking superheroes that perform multiple functions in baked goods like cakes, bread, pastries, muffin, and cookies.
I’ve put together this baking guide on eggs to help you better understand exactly what do eggs do in baking and gain confidence and expertise when baking from scratch. Consider this article your Eggs 101 Baking Guide about eggs, how they work in baking, their uses and substitutions, and much more.
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Everything in baking has its own part to play, whether it’s the ingredients or other factors like the temperature of the oven or resting time. The function of eggs in baking varies depending on how they are treated but they can thicken, emulsify, and add structure, support, moisture, and taste, just to name a few of their talents.
Eggs are essentially comprised of protein, fat, and water and this trifecta creates a powerful ingredient that multitasks in a variety of ways. The protein in eggs provides structure in baking, helping to create shape and support. The fat content in eggs emulsifies the other ingredients and binds them together and also adds richness, taste, and a velvety smooth texture. Water is valuable when it comes to trapping moisture in a bake, keeping things soft and creating the right texture as well as acting as a leavening agent too, giving rise to items like bread, cakes, and certain pastries.
Eggs perform a variety of roles in baking depending on the desired end result.
There are two parts to an egg, the white and the yolk. The yolk is where the nutrients, vitamins, and fat are and the white is mainly water and different proteins. The visible white membranous strands, that connect the two, are the chalazae, which act as an anchor keeping the yolk intact and suspended in the white within the egg’s shell. The fresher the egg, the more visible the chalazae are as it breaks down over time. This is why the egg yolk breaks apart more easily when you crack open older eggs.
Enriched bread doughs contain extra fats (like eggs) and sugars compared to more basic doughs made with just flour, water, and yeast. They are richer, have more flavor and color, and are moister too.
Bread dough with eggs will have a lighter texture and bouncier crumb, and rise higher than those without. Using eggs in bread will result in a deeper color, a more golden crust, and a richer taste (like this Nutella babka).
Brownies are typically sweet, moist, fudgy, and denser in texture, usually with cracked glossy skin on top. Brownies can be made in a variety of tasty flavors (like this Biscoff Brownies) and are a real favorite of mine!
Eggs in brownies emulsify the ingredients and bind them together, as well as add richness. If you add too many eggs to brownies, the result will be more cake-like in texture.
Cakes need an airy sponge and the moisture and leavening qualities in eggs contribute to a cake’s light and fluffy crumb structure. Using too few eggs in cakes will result in a more dense and more compact sponge, while using too many eggs in a cake would create a rubbery texture.
Eggs, along with fat, are the most important contributors to moist cakes, like this chocolate sponge cake.
The ratio of sugar to flour in cookies is very important to achieve the right texture, but eggs help to support the shape and structure of cookies and add vital moisture. Even if your cookie batter seems too fluid, the eggs will act as a binding agent (especially the egg yolks) and hold it all together and emulsify the butter (or other fat) with the flour in the recipe.
By adding more egg yolk to cookies, you can achieve an even fudgier texture on your cookies eg. these pecan chocolate chip cookies.
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Eggs make pastry richer, add texture and help with the structure and support. They also act play a leavening role in baked goods due to their moisture levels.
In some pastries, steam is the rising agent and helps to create a pocket ready to be filled with delights like these Puff Pastry Apple Turnovers.
Eggs add richness and texture to muffins, as well as provide structure and help them rise and achieve the tall risen dome. They give a beautiful golden hue, and luscious crumb and help bind the other muffin ingredients together whilst baking.
Mousse recipes often call for both egg yolks and egg whites to be used, but in separate ways. Egg yolks will be used in the initial sabayon base for velvety rich smoothness with whipped egg whites folded into the mixture at a later stage for that light and airy finish.
Egg whites and egg yolks behave very differently in baking and can be used separately or together. Sometimes, both the egg yolk and egg white are used in the same recipe but for separate parts and at different stages.
Egg yolks are packed with fats, nutrients, and vitamins and act as a binding agent between fats and liquids in baking recipes. They add richness, help draw out flavors and also create a smooth and velvety texture in your cookies eg. Biscoff Butter Cookies).
There are also special creams and custards eg. Crème Pâtissière or Diplomat Cream which are made with egg yolks only.
Egg whites are comprised of around 90% water and 40 different, functional proteins (yes, 40!). Egg whites behave very differently when separated from the yolk, and when beaten can multiply in size, up to 8 times their volume if done correctly. Whisking or beating egg whites in the absence of fat allows air bubbles to form and unfold the proteins, which expands their volume and creates structure and a natural leavening agent in dishes like souffle.
So what do egg whites do in baking? Egg white is used in many baking recipes where it is whipped and then stabilized with sugar like in the case of pavlova and macarons or toppings like Italian meringue frosting. Before compounds like baking powder and baking soda were invented, egg whites were often also used as the leavening agent in cakes! And egg white is used to create a cloudy texture on Angel food cake or Japanese cheesecake.
Eggs are rich in moisture which creates steam when baking, inflating the structure and acting as a leavening agent. It is particularly useful in recipes like eclairs that use steam as their rising agent, creating a hollow filling. Beaten egg whites also have the ability to foam and expand, creating a light and airy texture for dishes like souffle or meringue.
Protein is an essential part of baking as it creates structure. When cooked, the proteins in eggs unfold and build a matrix of sorts with the other ingredients, giving shape and support. The protein that eggs contain makes them especially useful in gluten-free baking (as gluten-free flour has less protein) and gluten-free recipes often require extra eggs for this reason.
The fat content in whole eggs or egg yolks helps to pull out the flavor from other ingredients, adds moisture and richness, and creates a smooth velvety texture (like this Homemade Crème brûlée). It is also an emulsifying agent. Fat-free recipes are often pumped with additional sugars or salt to compensate for the bland taste which results from cutting the fat content!
The fat in eggs also prevents the flour in baking recipes from absorbing water and becoming heavy Therefore, eggs have an important part to play in texture and keeping baked goods soft and tender.
Eggs expand when cooked or have air beaten into them, especially egg whites but egg yolks too to a lesser extent. Recipes like this Lemon Meringue Tart use eggs to build volume and a thick texture to the delicious meringue topping.
The yellow color is retained throughout the cooking process if baking with egg yolks or whole eggs. Egg whites turn opaque white when cooked, whereas egg yolks will give a deeper golden hue to baked goods like this Pâte Sablée sweet shortcrust pastry.
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Eggs, especially egg yolks are very nutritious and filled with vitamins your body needs. Egg yolks contain high levels of vitamins A and D as well as being an excellent source of iron and calcium. Egg whites are one of the purest forms of protein, which makes them a popular ingredient in the realms of health and fitness.
As we’ve discovered, eggs are mostly water and both the fat and protein in eggs help hold onto this water during baking. Baking with eggs traps moisture in the structure of the bake as they also release their own water as steam when cooking. This moisture helps with the texture, and also keeps the finished product from going stale and dry.
Who wants a flat, compressed cake or a cookie that has spread out into a puddle? Eggs provide structure, support, and shape in baking, whether it’s a beautifully risen Chocolate Marble Loaf Cake or cookie.
Eggs contain lecithin and albumin, both strong emulsifying agents. Emulsifiers help to break down fat molecules and suspend them within mixtures and distribute them evenly rather than clumping together. For example, cake batter contains both water-based ingredients and fats and needs emulsifiers to prevent it from splitting.
Eggs have flavors of their own and the fats within them also enhance and help to naturally bring out and enhance the other flavors in the recipe.
Brushing an egg wash over bread or pastries before baking gives that deep golden glossy finish with an added bite and can also help seeds or nuts adhere to the top. Egg wash is also used when breadcrumbing other foods like cheese, fish, or chicken before cooking to help the crumb stick.
Wondering what you can substitute for eggs? Baking with egg substitutes requires careful planning to compensate for the different components that they bring to the table. Eggs contain a lot of water (egg yolks are 50% water and egg whites almost 90%), as well as fat and protein, not to mention emulsifiers and other functions, so it is hard to make a straight swap.
Common egg substitutes include:
However, further adjustments often need to make to the other ingredients and their quantities or attributes to maintain the correct balance. Make sure to check my article on egg substitutes for baking.
There are several ways to separate egg whites and the most important thing is to avoid getting any egg yolk into the whites, as this can potentially ruin baked goods like meringue.
It becomes easier to separate egg whites once the eggs are slightly older as the proteins have broken down and the egg white doesn’t cling to the yolk. It’s for this reason we use ultra-fresh eggs when poaching, as the egg stays together much more easily in the water. However, this can also make the yolk more prone to splitting as the chalazae are no longer holding everything together so securely.
Always wash your hands and other utensils thoroughly after handling raw eggs.
There is much debate over whether or not eggs need to be stored in the fridge and it largely depends on the process of treating eggs (to avoid salmonella) in your particular country. From a food safety perspective, it’s easy – if the chickens that the eggs came from have been vaccinated against salmonella, or if the eggs themselves were treated against salmonella, it is safe to store eggs at room temperature. If you are unsure, store them in the fridge.
Having said that, in most baking recipes you will want to use room-temperature eggs, and believe me, it has a surprisingly huge impact on your baked goods whether it be cookies or cakes. Cold eggs do not emulsify properly making it a challenge to use in baked goods.
As they say, cooking is an art, but baking is a science. Eggs are a natural multitasker in this ‘laboratory’ and have so many functions, making them an incredibly important part of baking. They contribute moisture and emulsify the other ingredients, create structure, lift and rise, and also add volume, texture, and nutrition to boot. They can be used in the place of baking soda, hold a bake together and give it shape, add flavor and texture and if that’s not enough, they are just as useful in toppings and frostings as they are in the bake itself.
I always recommend baking with eggs (unless you have an intolerance or allergy) as they just bring so much to the table. I hope that learning more about eggs and understanding more about what eggs do in baking will help you take your baking skills to the next level!
Source: https://gardencourte.com
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