Everything You Need to Know About Tempering Eggs

Tempering eggs is one of the most intimidating techniques that bakers encounter. Many recipes don’t adequately explain how to perform the technique or miss the chance to explain why you should do it. With only sparse instructions to work from, bakers who are not already familiar with the process often wind up frustrated with a bowl of scrambled eggs instead of a silky smooth egg mixture. We want to provide bakers of all skill levels with the how, why and when behind egg tempering so you can bake with confidence. Read on to unlock the sweet science behind luxurious pastry creams and custards, or, if you want to just learn the technique, check out our how-to guide.

What is tempering?

In cooking, tempering refers to techniques used to stabilize ingredients by carefully heating and cooling them. For example, tempering eggs means that you are combining room-temperature eggs with hot liquid in a controlled manner to create a stable base for recipes like pastry cream. Some more experienced bakers may be familiar with tempering chocolate, which is a similar concept but a different technique. Tempering chocolate involves heating and cooling chocolate to control and compose a network of stable crystals, creating a glossy, finished look for chocolate-dipped desserts and molded candies.

On the other hand, when you temper eggs, you are aiming to gently cook the proteins in the yolks and whites while preventing them from coagulating into large clumps. This is done by slowly adding hot liquid, rather than adding it all at once, and whisking rapidly to create a smooth texture.

Why temper eggs?

Many foods contain proteins, which are large and complex molecules that are tightly wound together. When heat is applied, proteins unravel and change shape. In their unraveled form, proteins can combine to form networks that provide structure to baked goods. Because eggs are filled with proteins and are naturally liquid-like, they are a versatile binding agent in batters and doughs while also leavening baked goods to provide an excellent airy texture. Tempering eggs allows you to carefully change the proteins found in eggs to create a network of evenly distributed proteins, which provides thickening power and smooth texture to a variety of dishes.

Tempering works due to the dilution of the egg proteins in hot liquid and the slow heating that is accomplished in the process. If the egg proteins are not diluted and are heated too quickly, they change form rapidly and group together in tight clusters, like in scrambled eggs. However, if you cook the proteins with a hot liquid such as broth or cream and add the liquid in slowly while mixing, the proteins are diluted by the liquid as they unravel and firm up, which prevents them from clumping together tightly. Instead, they are emulsified into the liquid and provide an unrivaled texture.

Adding tempered eggs allows for a natural thickening of a recipe. Depending on how long the eggs are cooked after you temper them, their texture can range from a mildly thick yet pourable crème brûlée base to an extremely thick and silky custard.

When do you need to temper eggs?

There are many ways to thicken recipes by adding eggs, and not all of them require tempering. This technique is most useful when a recipe already requires a liquid base to be heated, and it would be inconvenient to wait until the liquid has cooled to add in the room-temperature eggs. For example, making pastry cream requires milk, sugar and a flavoring ingredient like vanilla beans to be combined, and it is a time-saver to temper the eggs into the heated liquid rather than for the liquid to cool. On the other hand, the liquid ingredients in a cake batter don’t need to be heated before baking, so you can safely mix in the egg yolks while all the ingredients are at room temperature.

There are a variety of sweet and savory recipes that harness the power of tempered eggs to provide a smooth texture:

  • Pastry creams, which can be used to fill cream puffs and other pastries
  • Custards and ice creams
  • Cream pies
  • Flan
  • Beverages like eggnog
  • Soufflés
  • Crème brûlée
  • Avgolemono soup
  • Hollandaise sauce
  • Pasta carbonara

To learn more about the technique behind tempering eggs, check out our written how-to guide or watch our video demonstrating the technique. Let us know which recipes you’re using to master the art of tempering eggs by sharing on social media using #NielsenMasseyInspires.

Become aVANILLA VIP

Sign up to receive Nielsen-Massey news, recipes, promotions and more.

    Related Blogs