Last month, I made the infamous Cloud Bread using chicken eggs. The recipe was from emmymadeinjapan. This time, I'll be making cloud bread, but using duck eggs.
A simple salted and hard-boiled duck egg tastes amazing with some rice. Duck eggs also make flavorful yolks that we can use in dessert (moon cake, anyone?) and any other cuisines. The whites? they are popular in pavlova and meringue recipes.
Many sources stated that duck egg whites require longer whisking time and that they are relatively looser in texture. However, you can't whisk them for too long, or else, they will start to collapse (the foam will break and lose their homogeneity). Rose Levy Beranbaum demonstrated whipping egg whites with duck eggs. She did amazing and the blog lets us know how long is "too long" for whisking duck egg whites, I suggest you check it out, along with her other article on beating egg whites. After you get the grip on the perfect timing, though, you will be rewarded with a crunchier meringue with a deeper flavor. But, how well they perform for cloud bread? There is only one way to find out!
A. The Ingredients
1. The wets:
- 3 Duck Egg Whites
- Food coloring of your choice (optional)
2. The Dry:
- Powdered Sugar
- Corn Starch
- 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
The cream of tartar helps the egg whites to hold their shape. When using thick egg whites like duck eggs, we need some acidity, aside from the sugar, to stiffen the mixture.
B. The Preparation Step
Separate the egg whites and the egg yolks, set aside in a medium-sized bowl.
C. The Steps
- Add in the cream of tartar.
- Continue whisking until frothy.
- Gradually add in the sugar.
- Gradually add in the corn starch.
- Continue whisking until stiff peak.
via GIPHY
- Add in the food coloring, continue whisking until well incorporated.
- Scoops out the whisked mixture onto a baking tray, lined with parchment paper.
- Shape it the way you want, smooth it out.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 175° C for 30 minutes.
Let's discuss the steps. Step 1-2 is only applicable if you are whisking the egg whites using a hand mixer or a stand mixer. However, if you are whisking manually by hand, whisk the egg whites first until they get frothy and by then, add in the cream of tartar.
The baking time! Since in my last attempt, I really liked the burnt outer layer, hence in this time I bake them for 5 more minutes than the original recipe, hoping to get a thicker outer layer. Glad that turned out how I wanted it. Also, in my prior attempt, I shaped it like a dome and the shape made it hard for the heat to reach the inside, resulting in an undercooked inner part. Therefore, in this attempt, I flattened the top layer out and make the base wider, so that I have a more crunchy part.
D. The Yield
via GIPHY
via GIPHY
A thicker and non-sticky outer layer, check. More brown area, check. Perfectly cooked inside, check. Overall, I am content with the result! My nephew, siblings, and mom also love it. It was gone in seconds, lol. Duck eggs definitely have a richer flavor. This time, the inside tastes like a sponge cake, which is good, 10/10 would make it again. The only correction is the shape, for the next attempt, I want to pipe them out into small dollops instead of plopping a single dome, that's one way to get more brown part in each bite. If you were to make this recipe, I would recommend using duck egg, but hen eggs work well too. Maybe combining both duck and hen eggs would be interesting, tweak it out and learn from it. Happy creating, Good luck <3
