Let’s talk all about eggs and why you use them while baking. Eggs are stabilizers and emulsifiers. They also help leaven your baked goods with aeration. On top of all of this, they add flavor. Eggs are broken into 2 parts by nature, egg whites and yolks. Each part does different things in your batter. Let’s take a close look so that you can better understand the chemical reactions while baking.

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What do eggs do in baking?

  • Provide structure and stabilize
  • Add flavor – the egg yolk is full of fat, and therefore flavor
  • Leaven/rise your baked good – by the aeration process (whipping to trap tiny air bubbles in your batter)
  • Emulsification – the eggs will help two ingredients that don’t mix well together (like water and oil) blend into a cohesive mixture. One major contributor of this is the lecithin found in the egg yolk.

How do eggs emulsify your batter?

Emulsification is one of the most important process when baking. Otherwise your baked good will separate while baking, leaving you with a greasy and unpleasant texture. In order to properly emulsify your batter, your eggs need to be whipped long enough to trap tiny air bubbles into the mixture. It is also very important to add the eggs to your batter before you add any of the dry ingredients like flour or else emulsification cannot occur.

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Egg Whites vs. Egg Yolks

  • Egg Whites: 88% water and 10% protein
  • Egg Yolks: 50% water, 30% fat and 17% protein

Egg whites can be whipped to add lots of tiny air bubbles and aerate/rise your mixture. Yolks can be whipped to add lots of tiny water pockets adding stability to your mixture.

How do eggs stabilize your baked goods?

When eggs are beaten and the molecules unfold, water gets trapped between the bonds of protein, thickening your batters and helping the baked goods from collapsing. When you add heat, the eggs coagulate causing the egg to change from a liquid to a semisolid or solid.

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