Egg: a Vital Baking Ingredient

Aside from flour, egg is also a crucial component of many baked goods, due to its unique functional properties and the significant contribution it makes to structure, appearance, texture and taste.

By Sarab Sahi and Gary Tucker, Campden BRI

Eggs bind, aerate, leaven, emulsify, thicken, aid in setting, are the base in many recipes and can be used as fillings, toppings, glazes and also for adding flavor and color to baked goods. No other single ingredient can do so much in baking.

Binding

In cakes, muffins, cookies, pancakes, waffles, doughs and many other baked goods, whole eggs are used as a binder. Eggs are natural binders, helping to hold all of the other baking ingredients together and increasing the viscosity of batters and doughs. Egg white has the capability to gel and is frequently used as a binding agent in many different prepared foods. Using more whites in a cake mixture will help create a fluffy, light baked product with good volume and texture, while using more yolks will create a denser baked good with a deeper, richer flavor.

Aeration is a critical function in the formulation of baked goods. It refers to the process of introducing gas into a liquid or viscous solution. Beaten whole eggs as well as egg whites on their own are highly effective leavening agents, incorporating air into the dough or batter.

Egg-free baking recipes are few and far between, and for good reason – for many products, eggs are indispensable.

Emulsification

Egg yolk is rich in fat and lecithin, an emulsifier, and can therefore be used as a highly effective, natural aid to emulsification. Emulsifiers provide superior palatability, mouth feel, texture and a consistent, high quality appearance.

Emulsifiers are a crucial baking aid because they deliver stability during the baking process, which results in volume increase and a good crumb structure.

No substitute?

Substituting eggs in baking can be a challenging task. It is extremely hard to find one ingredient that can match all the beneficial properties of the egg and it is almost impossible to find an ingredient that will replicate the structural benefits of whipped egg whites. While there are some good egg substitutes available on the market, there is no single egg alternative that provides all the functionality and natural capabilities of the egg itself. It’s normally necessary to add more functional ingredients when using egg substitutes.

Read the whole article in the September/October issue of European Baker.