Tempering Eggs
A number of creamy, egg yolk-based desserts, such as souffle and custard, will call for you to temper an egg as part of the recipe, this egg tempering process is a very critical step in making the dessert properly.
Essentially, tempering eggs is slowly raising the temperature of your egg yolks up to the temperature of a hot liquid you have on the stove. This serves the purpose of preventing the yolks from turning into scrambled eggs if you simply dump them in.
Tempering Eggs Example:
Let's say you're making a pastry cream and you need to add your egg yolks into your boiling milk mixture. To make things easier, you should find a heat-proof container such as a silicone measuring cup.
- Take a cup or so of your hot milk mixture and very, very slowly dribble it into your egg yolks, whisking continually.
- Continue in this manner until about half the milk mixture has been incorporated with the yolks.
- Slowly pour all of the new yolk/milk mixture back into the pot on ths stove, whisking continually.
- Heat the mixture, over medium heat, until it reaches a boil, stirring continually, making sure to reach all the corners of the pan or you could get globs that form and burn.
- Follow the recipes directions for the remainder of the recipe
And that's how to temper an egg! Tempering eggs is a simple process but extremely important, don't hurry through it or you'll end up with a lumpy sauce.
