A lot of baking recipes say to bring your eggs to room temperature. But why? Why is it important to do this when a recipe calls for it? Does it really actually matter? Actually, it does! I’ll be going over why it’s important to bring your eggs to room temperature but also a trick I do when I forgot to do so.
First things first, why is it important to bring an egg to room temperature. For one, when an egg is at room temperature, the yolks break down easier and more evenly. This means that when you’re mixing the eggs into the batter, the eggs will distribute better. This is true for dairy ingredients that are called to be room temperature as well. When eggs are broken down and whisked into the dough at room temperature, the eggs will capture more air too. This results in those flaky crusts and perfectly textured cakes we dream of.
Eggs at room temperature are even more essential for bakes like cheesecakes and custards. Eggs not at room temperature create the grainy and gritty texture, which isn’t enjoyable one bit. Having your eggs at room temperature is important when other ingredients are also at room temperature too. If you were to cream room temperature butter and sugar together to create this perfectly whipped base to your dough, you could seize and harden the butter when you add cold eggs. This results in small chunks of butter in your bake rather than smooth evenly distributed butter.
So what if I forget to bring my eggs to room temperature? Trust me, I do this ALL the time. It’s just something I can’t seem to remember. But my trick; I add them to a mug of warm water for 10 minutes! It does the trick every time. Just make sure the water isn’t boiling or too hot or else you’ll cook the eggs.
Happy baking!
