Are Eggs a Leavening Ingredient?

Until now I have ignored recipes that call for eggs because with covid we sometimes have no eggs.

I am finding that a lot of older recipes call for eggs though they do not have baking powder or baking soda.

I thought eggs were to give some foods a better texture.

Mostly cakes or cornbread.

German apple pancakes, Dutch babies and Yorkshire pudding are all examples of eggs being used as a leavening agent. It seems the key is the number of eggs (lots) and a wet batter, not a dough. I'm sure that there are other examples but that's what I first thought of.

Anne, this is a good question. I admit I don't rely solely on eggs much for a leavener, but I did research them for How To Bake Without Baking Powder and learned a lot. In the recipes I've looked at, it's usually beaten egg whites that are the key. Here's an excerpt from that chapter.

Tips for getting the best volume out of eggs:

Temperature: Room temperature eggs are said to yield triple the volume of cold eggs. Warm eggs to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of warm water for 10 to 15 minutes.

Separate whites and yolks:
 - Beat separately: yolks until they are smooth and whites until they form stiff shiny peaks.
 - Add to the batter individually: yolks with the other liquids, fold in whites last. Bake immediately.

Choice of bowl for whipping egg whites:
 - Copper is said to work best and stabilizes the egg whites.
 - Stainless steel is good if cream of tartar is used to stabilize the whites.
 - Aluminum imparts an unappealing grayish color to the egg whites.
 - Glass or plastic are too slippery to obtain fluffy egg whites.

Speed: Start beating at low speed and gradually increase to medium-high. This will improve stability of the air bubbles

Cream of Tartar: Add ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar when the whites are in the foam stage. Sugar can be added at the soft peak stage. These help maintain stability of the beaten-in air.

Type of eggs: If you can get them, use duck eggs. In comparison to chicken eggs, duck eggs are larger and have a higher percentage of yolk. They contain more fat and protein, which means richer, fluffier, moister baked goods which rise better than those baked with chicken eggs. According to Chef Jamie Oliver, the denser albumen in duck eggs gives gluten-free baked goods better structure.

Duck eggs can be substituted one for one in recipes. Because they have lower water content than chicken eggs, no adjustment to other liquids in the recipe is necessary.

Sample recipe on the recipe thread!

https://permies.com/t/174757/kitchen/DIY-Leavening-Power-Recipes#1373422

Leigh, that Lady Fingers recipe is a good example and easy to remember. "9" of each ingredient.

My Simple-Clafoutis is another.

Jocelyn's Dutch Babies that Stacy mentioned is another.

As can be seen from this recipe these all use a lot of eggs but no other leavening agent:

Sunshine Cake

Whites 10 eggs 1 teaspoon lemon extract
11/2 cups powdered sugar 1 cup flour
Yolks 6 eggs 1 teaspoon cream of tarter

Beat whites of eggs until stiff and dry, add sugar gradually, and continue beating; then add yolks of eggs beaten until thick and lemon-colored, and extract. Cut and fold in flour mixed and sifted with cream of tartar. Bake fifty minutes in a moderate oven in an angel-cake pan.

Here

Stacy also mentioned Popups, the only time I have ever made these was in my first year of cooking class so I don't even remember what they tasted like.  

Helpful ideas here - thank you. I would love to make a nicely leavened lemon meringue pie now that it is citrus season and the lemons are bountiful. Unfortunately, at 5,000 ft altitude the egg white weep and flatten. Anyone have a secret suggestion for leavening using egg whites at high altitude? Specifically, anyone have a tip for make a decent lemon meringue pie in the high desert?

Amy Gardener wrote:at 5,000 ft altitude the egg white weep and flatten. Anyone have a secret suggestion for leavening using egg whites at high altitude?

Wow! I believe the reason eggs are used to raise recipes is the texture you can achieve by incorporating air. I suppose at a high altitude the amount of air incorporated is less (mass) therefore the amount of rise or pressure increase on heating will be less. I can't think the structure of the eggs themselves would be different. In my experience meringues do not actually rise. They stay the same volume, just get stiffer when cooked. Somehow your eggs are not able to support themselves as they are heated, without more pressure in them.....

I can only suggest trying various methods to improve the stiffness of the whites. Cream of tartar has been mentioned. Using very fresh eggs is another. I have heard that whisking them in a copper bowl does work - the copper somehow stabilises the foam. I'm assuming that there is nothing in your method at fault - the whites should end up quite 'dry' and firm.

Thank you Nancy. Alas, I have followed your suggestions: copper bowl, cream of tartar, fresh eggs, nice voluminous stiff meringue dumped onto the beautiful lemon filling with edges sealed to the crust. Then, into the oven, the top browns meringue deflates, and the whites go flat and oozy. So sad!

I have not had any problems with meringue at 3000 ft.

I use cream of tarter.

This recipe I found uses cornstarch:

High Altitude Meringue for Pie

Ingredient

   1 tablespoon cornstarch
   6 tablespoons white sugar
   1 pinch salt
   ½ cup water
   3 egg whites

Directions

   Step 1

   In a glass or ceramic bowl, stir together the cornstarch, sugar and salt. Mix in the water. Heat in the microwave until the mixture is thick and clear, about 2 minutes at full power. Set aside to cool slightly

   Step 2

   Beat egg whites in a large glass or metal bowl until foamy. Gradually pour in the sugar mixture while continuing to whip the egg whites until thick and stiff enough to hold a peak. Cover pie filling completely with meringue, sealing to the edges. Bake as directed in the recipe, or in a preheated 450 degrees F (220 degrees C) oven until golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/159921/high-altitude-meringue-for-pie/

Thank you Anne. I'll try that meringue today and let you know the results. My recipe is 3 egg whites, 1/4t cream of tartar, 6T sugar, 1/2t vanilla: no cornstarch, no water, no salt.
Happy baking everyone!

Amy Gardener wrote:Thank you Nancy. Alas, I have followed your suggestions: copper bowl, cream of tartar, fresh eggs, nice voluminous stiff meringue dumped onto the beautiful lemon filling with edges sealed to the crust. Then, into the oven, the top browns meringue deflates, and the whites go flat and oozy. So sad!

Have you ever tried duck eggs instead of chicken eggs?

I'm at lower elevation than I'd like, so a test here won't help, but if I substitute a duck egg for a chicken egg when making bread in my bread machine, it rises about an inch higher, with everything else being the same.

I have another cake we make that I altered the original recipe for that only uses egg as the leavening, however it's a heavy cake - not light and fluffy at all. My kid likes it though, and it's great for serving with fresh or frozen fruit. Using 2 duck eggs along with 4 chicken eggs for the 6 eggs it calls for, does improve it's texture, as does having the butter nice and soft before starting so the egg/butter combo beats really nicely. That sort of supports the comments above that it's the air-holding capacity of the beaten eggs that is doing the "rising".

Anne Miller wrote:

Until now I have ignored recipes that call for eggs because with covid we sometimes have no eggs.

That is sooo... sad. Since I raise chickens and ducks, I often have the reverse problem and am looking for recipes that call for plenty of them. Eggs have lots of good nutrition in them, and chickens are great for entertainment value, except when they're being uncooperative at bedtime!

Jay said."Since I raise chickens and ducks, I often have the reverse problem and am looking for recipes that call for plenty of them. Eggs have lots of good nutrition in them, and chickens are great for entertainment value

We had that problem when we had our chickens and we would love to have chickens if it were not for the predators.

Our daughter, who has our chicken house at one time had 45 chickens (I don't know how many she has now), She doesn't have that problem because she gives her excess egg away.  I think has regular "customers" almost like a route.

As noted above, this thread motivated me to bake a lemon meringue pie. First step was to research the meringue pie problems that I attributed to high altitude and mentioned above. Shirley O. Corriher’s book, BakeWise: The How’s and Why’s of Successful Baking… explained in 90 enthralling pages how steam inside “stable egg foams” leavens about 40 puffy marvels.

The main takeaway for me is that, in previous attempts, I probably cooled the filling too much and did not create enough oven heat to cook the egg whites. Adding the warm, cooked cornstarch paste to the egg whites cooks the foam so it won’t collapse. Keeping the filling hot and pre-heating the baked crust while covering the pie with meringue continues the set. The oven finishes the steamy cooking effect and browns the top.

The Allrecipes high altitude recipe provided by Anne supports the idea of slightly precooking the egg whites with the warm cornstarch paste. That and many ideas additional provided by Corriher are also echoed in this comprehensive Denver Post recipe for crumb crust, starch stabilizing paste, filling and meringue.

Caution:
Making lemon meringue pie “correctly” requires ADVANCED skills and patience! The “Mile-High” pie was (eventually) wonderful at 5,000 feet, yes, AND making the crust, filling, stabilizer, meringue and assembly took 3 hours. I rushed and contaminated the whites with broken yokes (which means start over on the foam). Read the above recipe at least 5 times before starting because it’s a little confusing. Remember to add the butter, lemon juice and zest to the filling AFTER the unflavored filling is cooked (I mixed up the timing).

Amy Gardener wrote:

Read the above recipe at least 5 times before starting because it’s a little confusing.  

Yes, there are recipes which are simply extremely complex and there's no way around it. However, I've been known to reject outright, re-write, or massively simplify recipes that do that to me. There are too many interrupts in my life to tackle something that could have been done, or at least explained, in an easier to follow manner. If I get the feeling that the chef is intentionally making something that could/should be doable, seem like only a chef can do it, I'm not going to play in his sand-box!

I'm really happy that you managed to tackle the meringue mountain, Amy. It's not something I make often (#2 Son would love it if I would), but I'm glad you found information you could follow through to completion - well done! But will you do it again???

Jay wrote:

But will you do it again???

Actually, I’ll happily make this lemon meringue pie once a year. A sugar bomb like this has to be a rare and special occasion. What I’m really looking forward to after this skill-building experience is trying some of the barely sweet and savory ideas mentioned in this thread. Stacy’s Dutch Baby and Yorkshire Pudding; Leigh’s Lady Fingers and Ice Box Cake; Anne’s Clafoutis all sound comparatively healthy. Shirley Corriher’s savory recipes for steam and egg leavened “Mile-High Popovers,” “Simply Wonderful Strata,” “Cheese Puffs”  and “Magnificent soufflés” sound amazing after my post-pie sugar hangover. So much to explore with eggs + steam leavening!

Jay - I regularly rewrite recipes that are way more complicated than they need to be. Unfortunately for my kids, my recipes are just shorthand for myself and really are meant for people who know how to cook, nothing like a commercial cookbook. A family favorite, pasta pie, the original recipe took of three pages, I condensed it to a paragraph.

Stacy Witscher wrote:Jay - I regularly rewrite recipes that are way more complicated than they need to be. Unfortunately for my kids, my recipes are just shorthand for myself and really are meant for people who know how to cook, nothing like a commercial cookbook. A family favorite, pasta pie, the original recipe took of three pages, I condensed it to a paragraph.

I wouldn't say that mine are "shorthand", as I share many of my altered or collected recipes with friends and they seem to keep asking for them. I follow a few basic rules, like write the Ingredients list in the order the ingredients are used and also I tend to write the instructions clearly using numbered sentences. ( like this example: https://permies.com/t/174757/kitchen/DIY-Leavening-Power-Recipes#1373518 )  I do put some options down below as notes - people don't have to try those the first time around, but can choose to make things more complicated if they like the simple version.

Amy, thank you very much for sharing and explaining about your experience making the pie.

Your comment about Mile High reminded me of the Sky High Pie recipe.

I reread it this morning and thought I would share this explanation which I found was new to me:

Heat the egg whites and sugar while whisking constantly until the sugar melts and there is no visible grains in the meringue. Take a little of the meringue mixture and rub it between your fingers to make sure all the sugar grains have melted.

Making sure that all the sugar is completely dissolved may be why some pies weep as the sugar is not all resolved.

This last week was a fun week and I feel that everyone who posted during the promotion learned something, at least I did.