The other day at the farmer’s market here in Boulder, Paul of Cure Organic Farms had some duck eggs. When he told me that he mostly sells them to restaurant pastry chefs, I knew I needed to try them.
Indeed their yolks are twice the size of chicken eggs but the whites are definitely smaller. Cracking them is interesting: The shells are thicker and there is a protective film in between the shell and the actual egg. The taste is richer which makes sense given the size of the yolks.
Nutritionally they offer slightly more than chicken eggs, but they are also bigger and have a smaller white – even so they contain slightly more protein. For baking, the whites must be whipped with an addition of lemon juice. But because of the large, fatty yolk, they are great for baking cakes.
I tried it in a 1,2,3,4 cake and the result was a very yellow cake. I substituted 1 duck egg for 2 chicken eggs. My daughter loved them as plain boiled eggs. Duck eggs have a better shelf life than chicken eggs (I think it must be the thickness of the shell that helps) and they don’t get green if you boil them for too long. Duck eggs might not be for everyone, but they were a hit around here.
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