The Many Uses Of Eggs In Baking

9th October 2026 is World Egg Day!  Celebrate the use of the humble egg in so many aspects of your baking.  From using to make cake and cookies, to meringue desserts, to making our breads and pastries gloriously golden brown & flavourful, eggs play an intricate part in our baking, right down to the science of how the ingredients work together.  Let me tell you how:

The Many Uses Of Eggs In Baking

Celebrating Eggs Used IN Baking

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Clos eshot of a pink latex glove hand holding a brown medium sized UK egg, with mixing bowl in background.

Why We Need Eggs In Baking

Many recipes can be made without the use of eggs, but here are some good reasons for using eggs in baking:

provides moisture, fat & enriches a dough
has binding properties
provides another source of protein, that in turn helps with the strength, structure & texture of the bake – a ‘framework if you like.
This protein structure traps air & liquid & the air bubbles expand causing the bake to rise
provides richness, tenderness & colour to the bake.
creates golden & flavourful crusts to our breads & pastries

Best Uses For Eggs

Use in cake or cookie batter/dough
Use as an egg-wash on bread & pastries
Use with sugar to make meringues
Use to make meringue buttercream
Use to enrich a bread dough
Use to make fruit curds
Use to make pasta
Use to make pastry
Use to make quiche filling, crust & egg-wash
Use in high proportion for cakes such as Swiss rolls, Genoise or Angel cakes, as a leavening agent in place of baking powder or bicarb (baking soda)

Top Egg Tips

When adding eggs, add one at a time to allow better emulsification into the batter
Always use your eggs at room temperature for best results
Always whisk the egg to ‘wake up’ & activate the protein in the egg
Don’t have enough egg for egg-wash? – add some milk or oil to the egg & whisk together before using

Overhead close photo of cake batter on the ends of a hand-held mixer, overhead a mixing bowl.

Recipes That Use Eggs

Cakes

Most cakes use eggs and you can check out the cakes via the cake types, by clicking the category photos below, or jumping to the cake recipes page.

Check out my lesson on whisking egg yolks & sugar to the ribbon stage, that incorporates air into cake batter without any leavening to help it rise.

Cakes that use a higher proportion of eggs, include Swiss rolls (several types on the site), & Genoise sponge used in my Berry Griestorte.

Overhead shot of a bundt pineapple upside-down cake, on pink plate with pink napkin and flowers.

Shot of a whit eplate with 4 layer carrot cake slice,, soft pink pastel Spring decorations and mini eggs surrounding it.

Overhead image of pastel Easter decorated table with Devil's Food chocolate bundt cake and mini eggs.

Overhead shot on a white table, with pink crockery and napkin, & a Bakewell Bundt cake in the centre, decorated with cherries, glaze, & coconut.

Biscuits/Cookies

Many, but not all biscuits & cookies, use eggs. Used mostly as a binder, apart from in my Turkish savoury cookies & also in Mary Berry’s Easter Biscuits, where they are used as a glaze & for adhering toppings.

See some of the biscuits on the site below or jump to the biscuits & cookies page.

***In the photo here is a stack of Mary Berry’s Easter biscuits.

2 halves of a soft chewy chocolate chip cookie on top of each other, on pink plate, with crockery and milk to the background.

Stacked thick chunky dark coloured chocolate cookies with crumbs around.

Overhead shot of a white table top with tall meringue Pavlova with strawberries, blueberries & kiwi on top, napkin spoon and fruit.

Meringue Desserts

Meringues are made from egg whites & sugar. You can use up a lot of egg whites in meringues. This wonderful structure made just by whisking egg whites & sugar, is a tasty sweet treat and can make several desserts such as Pavlova (check out my air fryer Pavlovas by 3 different methods).

Other examples are mini pavlovas, layered crown pavlova, meringue nests, meringue kisses or try Diana’s Christmas Tree meringues.

Use in buttercream, or to top your lemon meringue pie.

Diana's meringue nests with cream, creme pat and lemon curd topped with raspberrie son a slate board.

Plate of meringue nest with whipped cream, cherry and maple syrup.

close partial shot of mint green coloured meringue trees with sprinkles and gold star to represent a Christmas tree.

Partial shot of a pink 2 layer meringue Pavlova by Italian method, on vintage English plate.

Extra close shot of broken piece of Turkish Poĝaça roll with cheddar onion filling.

Breads & Rolls

Eggs play an important part in producing a golden and flavourful crust to breads & rolls. But they can also be used inside the yeast mixture to make an enriched dough. Other examples are butter and oil.

Below are some examples of enriched dough & using the egg for an egg-wash. For more recipes go to the Bread, Rolls & Everything Yeast Based page.

Extra close shot of a slice of Turkish Pide pizza, stuffed with melting cheese.

4 photo collage of mini Ramadan pidesi, Turkish Ramadan thick flatbreads, with a diamond shape pattern on top.

Close shot of a triangle slice of cheesy yeast-free bread leaning on other slices, on apink plate with crockery to the background.

Extra close shot of tall homemade double decker cheese burger with deep golden brown seeded top, cheese, tomoato and gerkins visible, on a pale pink plate.

4 photo collage of running rolling pin overn pastry filled pie tin to remove excess, fitting in the sides by hand and making holes in base with a fork.

Pastries

Egg is used in some pastry dough, such as shortcrust pastry as a binder & for structure. It is also used as an egg wash & as a ‘glue’ for sealing pastries and keeping toppings like pastry decorations in place.

Below are some examples of using eggs in pastry recipes, or check out the pastry page.

Struggle with pastry? Then check out the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry 101 lesson.

Quiche is a fantastic way to use up eggs by using in the pastry crust, using in the filling & using as an egg-wash. Check out my friend Sally’s recipe – Quiche 101.

Extra close shot of 3 cheese pastry swirls on a pink plate, showing the layters of puff pastry.

Overhead shot of white table with a chocolate tart halved, served with strawberry.

Overhead of pastel blue coloured table and napkins, whole rhubarb pie, slice served, coffee and title.

Close shot of a slice of lemon meringue pie served on china plate wih lemon and mint garnish.

Extra close shot of a halved mini bundt cake, with bursting blueberries, and blueberry curd in the centre.

Curds & Creams

Another great way to use eggs is in fruit curd. Try my classic lemon curd tutorial, fig anise curd, or blueberry orange curd.

All tasty spreads & perfect on British Scones (that also use eggs!)or use as fillings in Swiss Rolls.

Crème Pâtissière, also known as Crème Pât or Pastry cream, uses a lot of egg and is made to fill pastries, doughnuts & more. Check out my Pastry Cream Tutorial.

Overhead phtoo of a white bowl with pastry cream and stewed rhubarb/compote, with a spoon and a pink soft napkin.

Close shot of a jar of homemade blueberry orange curd, with bloue and white Willow crockery behind.

Diana's photo of cake stand with round mini tarts with chocolate ganache and pastry cream, as well as long slim tart.

Overhead shot of an open jar of homemade lemon curd. with another jar to the back, lid and lemon slices.

Scones & Eggs

British scones are another great example that uses eggs. Some people use recipes with no eggs, or only egg in the form of an egg-wash on top of the scone before baking.

But, using eggs mixed with milk, not only provides moisture and fats, but this protein source, is key for perfect structure in scones. A building frame for a great rise in your scones, as scones should never be flat. (Just look at the rise-&-split structure in these pink glazed heart ones, stacked in this images).

It also helps gluten-free scones rise well too. Check out my scone recipes, including air fryer ones.

Thanks for reading & baking with me! If you want to learn more about common baking ingredients, read my Science Of Baking lesson.

Extra close front on shot of a stack of heart shaped, pink glazed British scones, 5 scones high on black background.

Photo of 2 halves of a British scones, served on pink floral pate, topped with raspberry jam and cream, with teacup and teapot to the background.

Extra Close shot of tall British cheese scone on pink vintage plate, with more to the background, pink napkin and butter dish to the background.

Close shot of white and pink marble table top with plate of 2 gluten-free air fryer british scones, and a femal hand reaching for Xanthan gum container, with M&S flour bag in the background.

Close shot of 2 halves of British chocolate scones topped with jam and cream on whit eplate and pink napkin.

Thanks for reading & baking with me! If you want to learn more about common baking ingredients, read my Science Of Baking lesson.

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