The Many Uses Of Eggs In Baking

11th October 2024 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
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

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.
Biscuits/Cookies
Many, but not all biscuits & cookies, use eggs. Used mostly as a binder, apart from in my Turkish savoury cookies 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Happy Learning & Baking!
Caro x
The Many Uses Of Eggs In Baking
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