Eggs are one of the most important ingredients used in baking almost all types of cakes, tarts and pies, cookies, and other pastries. Brown and white eggs are equally nutritious, and each consists of three main parts:
Egg Shell: is a delicate cover holding the egg. Because egg shell is porous, it absorbs flavors and odors easily . Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you keep eggs away from unclean surfaces and/or strong-scented materials. Store them in their container up to 5 weeks in the coldest part of your refrigerator, but never at the door. If your recipe calls for eggs to be at room temperature, you may want to place them in a bowl of warm water for couple of minutes instead of leaving them out on your kitchen counter. When baking, make sure that your eggs are odorless, otherwise, they may very well spoil you baked products.
Egg Shell: is a delicate cover holding the egg. Because egg shell is porous, it absorbs flavors and odors easily . Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you keep eggs away from unclean surfaces and/or strong-scented materials. Store them in their container up to 5 weeks in the coldest part of your refrigerator, but never at the door. If your recipe calls for eggs to be at room temperature, you may want to place them in a bowl of warm water for couple of minutes instead of leaving them out on your kitchen counter. When baking, make sure that your eggs are odorless, otherwise, they may very well spoil you baked products.
Egg Whites: is a non-fatty, clear liquid made of 90% water in which 10% of protein is dissolved. Egg whites include sulfur and become odorous as they age. Using fresh eggs is necessary for a more stable white foams, needed for some baking and pastry recipes such as meringue. If eggs age, they tend to be more alkaline, and are likely to affect the function of chemical leaveners.
Egg Yolks: High in cholesterol; contains fat, protein, vitamins and minerals, and act as a natural emulsifier in almost all baking and pastry recipes for it tends to make pastry batters quite smooth. Blood spots are sometimes found in egg yolks as a result of blood vessel rupture that happens while eggs are being formed. When baking, you don't need to remove them. They are harmless and perfectly safe for consumption. If you do mind their existence in your batters though, you may easily remove them with a tip of a knife.
Eggs....Important Baking Ingredient:
Eggs are used in baking and pastry making in many different ways and for a variety of reasons. In addition to providing structure and flavor to the end product, they are also used to:
- Moisten the baked product: since 3/4 of an egg weight is water, when adding eggs to a pastry batter or a dough, that means a considerable amount of water is being added, resulting in a moist end product.
- Tenderize the baked product: fat found in egg yolk tends to shorten gluten strands developed in a pastry dough or a batter just like butter, shortening and oil do. The more eggs, and thus fat being used in baking, the more tender the product is likely to be.
- Leaven the baked product: eggs act as natural baking leaveners by trapping air cells within its whipped batter, giving rise to the final baked good. Chiffon cakes and angle food recipes are mainly dependent on eggs to leaven the baked products.
- Emulsify pastry batter: naturally emulsify pastry batters and make them soft and smooth.
- Provide color to the baked product: some recipes are mainly dependent on egg yolks for color. Lemon meringue pie recipes are an example of that.
- Provide nutritional value: eggs are a great source of protein, vitamins (A, B, E, D) and minerals including iron, phosphorus, sulfur, potassium and calcium, all of which are essential to a human body's health and development.
- Make a Wash for bread loaves and other pastries. Egg wash are used as a sticking substance to sesame seeds, nigella seeds and other toppings used for dressing up bread, cakes and pastries. It also gives a nice golden-brown and tempting glossy finish to the baked product.
What Kind of Eggs Should You Buy?
It is strongly recommended that you buy U.S Grade AA, or A type of eggs. Eggs with these Grades are clean, defect-less, with high round yolks, thick and firm whites and no cracked shells. The only difference between Grade A and AA is that egg white in A is less firm than AA.
