how do you make frothy eggs

I’ll be honest- meringue is my arch nemesis. On top of pies, in a buttercream, WHEREVER, meringue is really just kinda no bueno in my book. I have failed time and time again when it comes to whipping egg whites the right way, so much so that I’ve nearly given up. But today, in continuation of our “You Need To Know” tutorials, we’re going to talk the ins and outs of egg whites, how to deal with them, what to use them for, and how to know if you’re doing it all right. Prepare yourself for total domination of the egg whites.

Beat the egg whites with a whisk attachment in a mixer (or using a hand mixer), starting on low speed and then slowly increasing to high speed, until stiff peaks form.

So youve assembled your ingredients for the swanky Stiff Upper Lip: Belvedere vodka, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, an egg white, and housemade demerara simple syrup. And you dont want to slosh these top-shelf ingredients all over your countertop. Whats the Serious Eats solution? “When youre dry-shaking … align the glass dead-center into the mixing tin, rather than at an angle, and smack it hard with your hand to seal it,” the outlet writes.

Once youve sealed the glass and tin straight up and down (rather than at an angle), you can give that shaker the full 30-second shake that Diageo Bar Academy recommends for properly foaming the egg whites for your fancy cocktail. To finish your cocktail, after youve done the dry shake, you add ice, shake once again to chill the ingredients, and strain your cocktail into a glass, which leaves a beautifully frothy layer atop your drink. Once youve mastered the dry shake, you can even use egg whites to dress up simple cocktails like the classic whiskey sour.

The most common method for foaming egg whites is called a dry shake, which, according to Diageo Bar Academy, means putting ingredients into a bar shaker and vigorously shaking the mixture before adding ice. Serious Eats explains the most common problem with the dry shake, and thats the mess it makes. If youre using a Boston shaker — thats the combination of a mixing glass and a shaker tin — the glass and shaker tin are typically joined at an angle. The problem is that the shaker is a higher temperature during a dry shake, which prevents the tin from forming a tight seal around the glass, leading to some spillage. Whats a mixologist to do?

A properly made craft cocktail isnt just about the flavors of the ingredients you pour into a glass — its also about presentation and the experience of sipping a cocktail, including, in some cases, the textures achieved by an expert mixologist. And mixology isnt magic. There are skills even amateur cocktail makers can acquire that elevate drinks made at home. Making a cocktail with egg whites is one of those skills, but until now, its often been a messy experience.

How Do You Whip Egg Whites?

Egg whites are most easily whipped with an electric hand or stand mixer, but this process can be done by hand with a wire whisk as well. To whip egg whites, start with a clean, grease-free bowl and whisk attachment and begin to process the egg whites on low speed. Large, foamy bubbles will begin to appear, and once the egg whites transform from viscous liquid to loose foam, you can increase the speed of your mixer. Although the bubbles start out large, smaller, more fine bubbles will begin to appear and the foam will continue to increase in volume. You’ll stop your mixer when you reach the desired level of foam formation. So what if a recipe calls for “firmly whipped egg whites” or “egg whites with soft peaks?” We need to know what we’re looking for! Let’s start by breaking down the stages of egg white foam formation.

To prepare foamy egg whites, whip your fresh, room temperature egg whites in a clean bowl until large bubbles begin to appear. At this phase, the egg whites will appear like bubbles in a foamy bathtub and will not hold their shape.

Soft peak egg whites will have a slight sheen to them and fine textured bubbles. At this phase, the whipped foam will still slide around in the bowl, and if you lift a beater out of the mixture, the peak will droop over without holding its shape. The foam is definitely fluffing up at this phase though, and you will likely see a trace of your beater in the mixture.

This is the narrow gap between soft and stiff peaks. Here, a beater lifted out of the bowl will yield a defined tip that may fall over slightly but will keep its overall pointy shape.

At this phase, peaks are stiff, shiny, and stick to the inside of the bowl. If you lift a beater out of the bowl, the peak tip will stick up tall with a slight sheen. If you were to turn your bowl upside down at this phase, the foam would stick to the inside of the bowl without falling out! Avoid beating your egg whites past this stage as you’re likely to create an unstable, overbeaten egg white that will eventually break and deflate.

How to Whisk Eggs

FAQ

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