We’re studying eggs this week. It’s been one hell of an eye-opening week to say the least. I’m floored by how much I’ve learned already. And I’m floored by how much I should have known and did not. I’ve been making so many mistakes all these years! Ah well, that’s why I’m in school, right?
Anyway, yesterday we made a bunch of things with egg whites, some with yolks too. This was one of our creations. I’m not crazy about meringue, I’ll be honest. But these are really quite good. And the filling is just delightful if I must say so myself.
I’ll try and post more recipes and pictures from class. We’re covering the basics right now, like why things go wrong and what makes them go wrong. For example, during the lessons on leaveners (baking soda, powder, etc) we spent an entire class making muffins using different variables. What happens if you add buttermilk instead of milk? What happens if you omit baking powder or soda altogether? You get the picture.
Anyway, wow we’re doing much the same with eggs. It’s been hard work but super enlightening.
Egg fact! Did you know that brown eggs and white eggs are the same in almost every way but color? The only difference between the two is they come from different breeds. Granted, brown egg chickens tend to eat more food. I reckon that could be why large industrial farms tend to lean more toward white egg-laying chickens. Anyway, don’t worry about color! The best thing you can do is buy your eggs from a local farmer—avoid the big farms entirely, solely because they’re terrible to and with their birds.
All this time I thought white = bad, brown = healthier. NOT SO. Thought I’d share. :]
My computer is being mean & won’t let me see the picture – and the description alone is making me drool!!
Nope. I screwed up! Fixed. (I think.)
Oh my goodness, they’re beautiful. Can you share recipes??
I’m not sure! I need to ask them. They know about the blog and whatnot, I just need to find out what I can say before I start saying. :] I’ll get back to you on that one. And if it’s OK, I’ll definitely share them.
Oh I love your new venture! I enjoy cooking though I don’t as often as I would like or should. Looking forward to hearing all about your cooking and school.
But brown eggs are so much prettier and THAT is why I buy them. Dumb!
I buy the brown ones too! Always! I plan on sticking with brown. I especially love it whenever they’re slight different hues.
We bought white eggs this past Easter for Emory to dye and it just seemed way weird for me. Brown it is!
Also: Cyn. I know! I read all about that birdie recently. Go Brown Egg-laying birds!
I grew up in Rhode Island and there was a pretty heavy push for people to buy brown eggs since they come from Rhode Island Reds (the state bird). There even was a jingle “Brown eggs are local eggs and local eggs are fresh!” that I still sing to myself every time I buy eggs.
i would like to eat one of these very much.
One time a paper did an interview with my pastry chef instructor at culinary school where she said most people came into the class not knowing how to properly whip cream. My friend and I thought that ridiculous until we got to the class and most students really didn’t know how to whip cream.
Oh those look LUSCIOUS. I hope you’re able to share a few recipes…or receipts as we call them up here in the wilds of New England.
Can you answer this question: Have local eggs been fertilized? I know most grocery stores sell unfertilized eggs so there’s no risk of someone cracking them open and finding a wee chicken embryo. I’ve been too chicken (ha!) to buy local eggs because I fear the bloody egg. Should I just get over it? What is the answer!?
Very interesting about the white/brown eggs. I kind of suspected that, but never looked it up or anything.
Keep posting more!!! This is interesting.
so what makes things more fluffy?
I made a batch of whole wheat buttermilk pancakes for the kids the other evening and found that when I substitute skim or soy milk for a part of the low fat buttermilk, they’re not as fluffy. But maybe I could offset with an increase/decrease in baking soda or powder? I’m going for light and airy.
Because I’m a bit food/cooking obsessive, I knew about the brown/white egg thing. Did they explain to you why eggs behave better (particularly the whites) when at room temperature? I know it’s true, but I don’t know why!
so, um, these were completely delicious
like amazingly so.
it did taste much better right-out-of-the-fridge than it did at room temp. i think it was texture and how the fat popped on my tongue.
but yum yum yum yum yum
Rachel: Sorry for the late response. Don’t 100% hold me to this, but I’m pretty sure that if you up the baking POWDER when replacing some of the buttermilk with soy or similar, it will help. SODA reacts once and does so better with buttermilk, take that away and you’ll need to make up for it.
Use POWDER, it reacts twice: once with liquid/mixing and once while baking.
I hope that helps!
Thanks, Mihow. I think I’ll also try beating the egg whites separately, as this helps fluff things up (at least when I make them waffles). I’ll let you know how it goes!