Recipes  

Why use room-temperature eggs when baking?

I would like to know why you should always use room-temperature eggs when baking. I admit that if I am in a rush, I take them out of the fridge and use them right away, and my cakes are still soft.

Why use room-temperature eggs when baking?

It’s true that cake recipes sometimes specify eggs at room temperature. Why? Mainly because room-temperature eggs (which are less viscous than cold eggs) mix better with the batter and rise more easily. This can make a small difference in the height and texture of ordinary cakes that contain two or three eggs but can make a real difference in cakes that contain a lot of eggs, such as genoese, four-quarter, angel food or sponge cakes. In the past, using room-temperature eggs made the job a lot easier when beating eggs by hand with a whisk. Room-temperature eggs gave much better results than cold eggs. Today, the use of super efficient appliances means the difference still exists but is less important. The temperature of eggs also affects the baking time: a cake will take longer to bake if a recipe calls for room-temperature eggs but cold eggs are used instead. It is easy to warm eggs; just place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.