How to Use Eggs in Desserts

Using the Egg Yolks

Make a custard, pudding or pastry cream. One of the easiest ways to use up a lot of egg yolks is to cook them with milk and sugar. Custards are easy to cook directly on the stove or you can bake them in the oven. A French-style custard, pastry cream, is usually cooked on the stove. If you'd like a thicker dessert, you can make a pudding by including cornstarch in the custard base. You can pipe pastry cream onto tarts or inside pastries for a creamy filling.

Bake creme brulee or flan. You've probably seen creme brulee or its Spanish counterpart, flan, on sophisticated dessert menus. It's actually really simple to whisk up an egg yolk, cream, and sugar base that's baked in individual ramekins. To serve creme brulee, bake the custards and then top them with sugar (brown sugar works well). Broil or torch the tops to create a hard sugar topping. Or turn the flan out so a caramel sauce covers the custards. Once you've made the basic creme brulee or flan, experiment with your favorite flavors. For example, try a coffee flan or an earl grey creme brulee.

Make homemade ice cream. Really creamy homemade ice cream recipes rely on egg yolks. While you can add as few or as many yolks as you like, more egg yolks will make the ice cream base creamier and more custard-like. For example, you can make a fantastic French vanilla ice cream that will be pale yellow and very dense. Ice creams that use a lot of egg yolks also take longer to melt.

Cook a fruit curd. You're probably familiar with lemon curd, the bright, sweet, and flavorful citrus spread. You can make lemon or any flavor fruit curd by whisking egg yolks and sugar over low heat. Whisk in fruit juice or puree and then slowly add butter. Cook and stir the fruit curd until it thickens. You can use the curd to flavor whipped cream or pastry cream. To make a simple dessert with your fruit curd, spread some over a tart and top it with meringue or whipped cream, much like a key lime pie.

Using the Egg Whites

Whip up a soft meringue. You can make a variety of soft, egg white meringues. To make a French meringue, whisk together sugar with egg whites until the mixture is stiff. To make Swiss meringue, beat the egg whites and sugar over heat. Keep beating the meringue until it's firm. To make an Italian meringue, beat egg whites and slowly pour in a hot sugar syrup until it's firm. For a cross between a meringue and marshmallows, make marshmallow fluff. This can be stored in a jar and spread on sandwiches or cookies.

Use the egg whites in meringue buttercream. For a light, fluffy frosting, make a meringue into a buttercream topping. Heat egg whites with sugar. Once they're hot, beat them on high speed until the mixture is firm. Slowly beat in softened butter and beat until the frosting is smooth. You can add in any flavorings you like when you beat in the butter.

Bake an angel food cake. Beat egg whites with a little cream of tartar until they're foamy. Whisk in sugar as the egg whites begin to stiffen. Once they're firm, you can gently fold in flour, salt, and a little more sugar. Spread the batter in an ungreased tube pan and bake it until the cake rises and turns golden brown on top. Consider serving the angel food cake with sugared strawberries and whipped cream for a lighter version of strawberry shortcake.

Bake crisp meringues. Once you've whipped up a soft meringue, you can spread or pipe individual meringues onto a baking sheet. Bake the meringues in a low oven for about one hour. Turn off the oven and keep the meringues in it until they're cool. This will dry them out so they become crisp. Macarons are similar to individual meringues, but the egg white mixture also contains ground almonds.

Make a pavlova. To make a pavlova, spread the meringue into one large circle. The filling of the meringue will stay slightly soft and you can top it with fresh fruit and whipped cream. You can also make different flavors of pavlova by flavoring the meringue. For example, make a chocolate pavlova using cocoa powder. Top the pavlova with whipped cream and hazelnuts.

Make your own marshmallows. If you've never tried homemade marshmallows, you're in for a treat. You'll need to soften plain gelatin in a little water and create a sugar syrup. Beat these together on high speed and add stiff beaten egg whites to get a fluffy mixture. Spread the soft marshmallow into a large pan coated with powdered sugar and let them sit out until they dry. Cut the marshmallows into squares or fun shapes. You can make different flavors of marshmallows by adding extracts or spices. Try chocolate marshmallows, cinnamon marshmallows, or lemon marshmallows.

Using Whole Eggs

Bake a cake. Most cake recipes call for at least a couple of eggs. If you'd like to use up a lot of eggs, consider making a butter cake or pound cake. Cakes that rely on eggs for their yellow color also tend to use more eggs. Bring your eggs to room temperature before you use them in the recipe. This will blend them into the batter more easily.

Make a batch of cookies or brownies. Bake your favorite brownies or a few dozen cookies to use up eggs. Most brownies recipes use several eggs to get a really fudgy texture. You can also make monster cookies or spread the cookie dough in a sheet pan to get bar cookies.

Bake bread pudding. Bread pudding is a great way to use up eggs and any stale bread you might have around. Arrange the bread in a baking dish. Make a simple custard by whisking together eggs, milk, a little sugar, and some cinnamon. Pour the custard over the bread and let the bread absorb it for about 30 minutes. Bake the bread pudding until the custard sets. You can also add in currants, raisins, or chocolate for extra sweetness.

Make breakfast for dessert. Many popular breakfast items use a lot of eggs. To make the breakfast food decadent enough to serve for dessert, include chocolate, fruit, or extra spice. For example, try: Dutch baby or German pancakes with powdered sugar. Chocolate waffles with marshmallow cream. Chocolate chip or strawberry pancakes.