I get more questions about génoise than about any other type of cake. I understand that. Génoise batter can be tricky stuff. Oh not because the technique is difficult to master. The steps are mostly pretty easy. The danger lies in over-whipping.

It took me years of on-again, off-again génoise making to understand that the degree of whipping and the height of the rise only correlate up to a point. Once you pass it, more whipping begets less volume, even a complete and utter failure (fall). Why?

Under exactly what circumstances would an American-born British loyalist who fled North America and subsequently relocated to Bavaria introduce a dessert to Thomas Jefferson? It’s a darn good question. As far as I know, Rumford never returned to America after he left in 1776. Jefferson, on the other hand, traveled extensively in Europe in the 1780’s. Interested as Jefferson was in the sciences, it’s certainly possible he encountered Rumford there. However by Rumford’s own account, he didn’t invent his “omelette surprise” until about fifteen years later. So Rumford said:

Omelette surpirse was the by-product of investigations in 1804 into the resistance of stiffly beaten egg whites to the induction of heat.

Not Alaska, that much I know for sure. That name was invented, probably in America, around 1900. It appeared in print for the first time in the 1906 edition of Fanny Farmer’s Boston Cooking-School Cookbook. Why was it named for Alaska? Not because Alaska was admitted to the union at that time as some people claim (that wasn’t until 1959). No, it seems the Alaska part simply seems to be a trendy — at least at that time — reference to something cold.

So OK, the questions just keep on coming: why do athletes eat raw eggs? That from reader Nan. I’m not sure athletes eat/drink eggs like Rocky anymore, however I do know why eggs are considered a “perfect” protein by many nutritionistas. It has to do with their so-called “bioavailability.” It’s a long word but the idea behind it is simple. The food world is full of different kinds of edible proteins, but the degree to which the body can break them down and use them varies. Some proteins break down very inefficiently in the digestive tract, the result being that not all the nutrients they contain (specifically their nitrogen) can be absorbed. The most “perfect” proteins are those that give up the most nutrients. Egg proteins are 97% bioavailable which is, you know, a lot.

I’ve received quite a few emails asking about egg safety since I began this grand digression a week ago. Though I don’t want to get too deep into the subject — there are baked Alaskas to make — I do have a few thoughts. I can remember being amazed and disappointed when, back in the […]

In light of the Gay Girl in Damascus blogging scandal and the Lez Get Real blogging scandal, I think it’s high time I came clean about my real identity. I’m ashamed to admit that in reality my name is Jane Meat and I work the grill station at a Ponderosa Steakhouse in Newark, New Jersey. I know it’s all a gigantic shock. I just wanted to be loved…is that so wrong?

I spent so much time blathering on about eggs I never got to bake the Alaska, and now I have to leave town! Back Monday to try it again! – Joe

What exactly happens as an egg ages? Well you remember I mentioned that eggs have those tiny pores in their shells (the ones through which aromas and undesirable microbes can enter). Well, those holes are two-way streets. Stuff can get in, but stuff can also get out. Specifically carbon dioxide, which is initially stored in an egg as carbonic acid. That acid is what’s responsible for keeping the white of the egg firm, since a low (acidic) pH causes the proteins in the white to clump together. As the carbonic acid converts to gaseous CO2 and leaves the egg, the pH goes up, and that has all sorts of consequences for the egg’s texture.

All you egg aficionados out there have undoubtedly noticed that eggs contain two kinds of white (or “albumen”). There’s the “thick” albumen, which you find right around the yolk. The “thin” albumen forms the outside layer and is fairly runny no matter how fresh the egg is. Yet in a fresh egg the proportion of thick to thin albumen is about 60-40. As the egg ages that proportion changes, and can go as high as 40-60 in a very old egg.

All this talk of egg freshness makes me thing again of my grandmother and the stories she’d tell about “winter” eggs when she was a child. That was about 1918. Back then fresh eggs were almost unheard of in the deep winter months. We don’t much think about it now, but chickens go through a natural period of molting each year. They lose old feathers and get news ones. It happens in winter, during which time hens lay few if any eggs. Nowadays commercial egg operations control molting by manipulating light and feed to bring it on quicker and get it finished faster. Whereas molting once took months, so-called “force molted” hens get it over and done with in just a couple of weeks. Which allows us to enjoy fresh eggs all year round.