Why would a recipe call for pouring boiling butter into egg-whites?
I made a sponge cake using a recipe from an old cookbook and at one point it told me to melt and boil butter and pour the boiling butter into beaten egg-whites, let sit for a minute and then mix gently. This procedure puzzles me. Why should I pour in the butter while hot?
If you want the whole thing, here goes (no measures, 'cause it's in Polish and uses Polish measures, where "one cup" is not what you would call "one cup"):
- beat egg whites with powdered sugar until stiff
- pour in melted and boiling butter (or shortening), mix gently after one minute and let sit until it cools.
- Start mixing again and add egg yolks one by one, then lemon juice and finally flour mixed with baking powder.
- Mix a bit more.
- Bake for at least 50 minutes at 160 degrees C
The batter looks fine, it's baking nicely, but the long time is also strange for me, most sponge cakes that I made require just 20-25 minutes of baking. I skimmed the book, but didn't notice any other sponge cake recipe with this approach.
Best Answer
As far as I know, pouring hot stuffs into the meringue (beaten egg-white) while mixing will denature the protein, and thus stiffen and stabilize the meringue. However, I have no idea why you should pour and wait, then mix in.
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What happens when you mix egg and butter?
When you are beating eggs into a butter mixture you are basically creating an emulsion \u2013 ultimately the fat in the butter is brought together with the water in the eggs with the help of the emulsifying ability of egg yolks (it's kind of like making mayonnaise but in reverse).Will melted butter cook eggs?
As for recipes that call for melted butter and eggs, like pancakes, it's best to let it cool slightly before combining it with the other ingredients. Hot melted butter will partially cook the eggs, turning your batter into sweet scrambled eggs.Why did my butter and eggs curdle?
Curdling by adding eggs can happen for two reasons. First, the eggs are too cold, and this breaks the emulsion of butter and sugar. Second, the eggs are added too quickly, again breaking the emulsion. The result looks like little lumps of butter and sugar in liquid.Why must the eggs be added one at a time into the butter and sugar?
The same principle applies here: If you add all your eggs slowly, it will give everything a chance to get to know each other, mesh together and become one. If you add the eggs all at once, the butter-fat mixture won't be able to absorb it all and won't create a nice suspension.More answers regarding why would a recipe call for pouring boiling butter into egg-whites?
Answer 2
This is from a low-carb blog, specifically a gluten-free fluff marshmallow frosting recipe with that specific instruction – I asked the writer why she does it that way and here is her response:
There are a few reasons why the hot butter is poured into the beaten egg whites. First of all, the egg whites are beaten first to give the maximum volume to the frosting. Secondly, the butter mixture is poured while it’s hot to prevent gelatin forming lumps or erythritol crystallizing. The hot butter also gives some shine to the frosting when poured into the beaten egg whites.
This is step five on her list of directions; her response is at the very bottom of the page in the comment section.
http://www.lowcarbsosimple.com/low-carb-marshmallow-fluff-frosting/#comment-276
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