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Expert Q&A
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| By iParenting Staff iParenting Staff Experts | ||
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Some cake recipes say to add the eggs one at a time. Is this necessary?
The reasoning behind adding the eggs one at a time is to fully incorporate each egg into the batter before adding more. This is particularly important when adding eggs to a mixture of butter and sugar. If all the eggs are added at once, it is more difficult to blend the mixture together thoroughly. Also creamed cake batters benefit from longer beating times. The pound cake is an example of this type of cake. The theory is that adding the eggs one at a time prolongs the beating time and contributes to a better quality cake. If eggs are being added to an already moist batter, I don't see how it would make that much difference to add the eggs all at once. Having said that, keep in mind that baking is a very precise science. While I am always looking for ways to simplify recipes, when baking, I generally follow the recipe instructions explicitly. After all, recipes are tested often several times for best results.