Eggs

Eggs are one of the most versatile and nutritious foods you can have in your home. Not only are they are they fun to paint and crack around Easter time, but they also contain 6.5 grams of protein along with a substantial amount of thiamine, iron, phosphorous and vitamins A, D, and E. The yolk contains most of the fat, cholesterol, vitamins and protein, while the white of the egg is made up of water and albumen (a type of protein).

From a baking standpoint, eggs have a wide variety of uses:

• Leaven: Souffles & Sponge Cakes
• Thicken: Custards & Sauces
• Emulsify: Pastry Dough
• Bind: Cookies & Tart doughs
• Crystallize: Candies & Frosting
• Glaze: Rugelach and other pastry products

One common misconception is that you can tell the freshness of the egg by placing it in salt water. This is not true, but you can tell the age of the egg by the thickness of the white and by how flat the yolk is. These changes do not have a significant effect on the nutritional value of the egg or its cooking function, but it does change the appearance slightly. When you poach or fry and egg, you’ll want a fresher egg because it will hold it’s shape better rather than spread out in the pan. On the other hand, when you hard-boil and egg you’ll want them a week or so old so that they’re easier to peel after cooking.

One neat egg test I learned at my baking class last week is a way to test if an egg is at room temperature. Many times in a recipe you’ll notice it asking for room temperature eggs. Rather than letting an egg sit out all day, for health reasons you can let the egg sit in a bowl of warm water for a couple of minutes. The trick I learned is that when you shake an egg that is at room temperature, you won’t hear the yolk shaking inside like you would with a cold egg. Try it next time!

If you have any addition questions or interest feel free to comment here, or e-mail me at kristinscravings@gmail.com!