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Quite often I have a small bowl of egg whites left over after separation from their yolks. Rather than throw these away, what other culinary uses could I put them to? I have some Crème Brûlée experiments planned and before I start it would be nice to know what I might do with the left-over egg whites. |
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Very easy, light and yet delicious chocolate souffle: 4 large egg whites; 120g good plain chocolate (70%); 20g sugar (or more to taste). 4 buttered ramekins. Melt the chocolate (your favoured method); whisk the egg whites with the sugar to stiff peaks (optional: add a pinch of salt); fold chocolate thoroughly into whites and pour into the ramekins; bake about 10 mins at 180C. Best not to cook all the way through because it is much nicer if it is still soft in the middle. In fact, it is also great uncooked and chilled as chocolate mousse. Advanced note: Higher cocoa butter content makes for easier folding into the egg whites, so good couverture chocolate is probably best. I've also done this recipe with 100% cacao which lacks both the sugar and the extra cocoa butter that regular 70% chocolate has: I found that I needed to add not only extra sugar for sweetness, but also butter (melted with the chocolate) to be able to get it smoothly folded in. |
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There's meringue in general, but there's also meringues as small cookies. I've folded in mini chocolate chips, red hots, white chocolate, diced maraschino cherries, etc. You could also make meringue as a base for a pavlova. If you had enough, you could make an angel food cake; if you only had a few, you could mix them in with a few whole eggs for scrambled eggs, an omelet, or similar dish. |
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Merengues? Angel Food cake? Chocolate Mousse? Souffle? Or you can use 'em to punk up your hair (though the hard core punks say to use elmer's glue(!!) instead). The possibilities are vast. Egg whites are solid protein, and very good at holding their shape. You can fold them in to muffins, quickbreads, pancake batters, souffle...Anywhere you need a little lightness, a little more air. |
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They keep very well in the freezer, I put them in an ice cube tray to freeze and then store in a freezer bag until I'm ready for them. Macarons are my favorite use! I normally use whites in meringue-type applications such as macaron, meringue or macaroons. Or you can just make an omelet with them. |
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Macarons are all the rage these days, and require aged egg whites. Many homemade marshmallow recipes use egg whites. |
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If you're making pancakes, you can beat the egg whites into stiff peaks and fold them into the batter just before cooking. This will make your pancakes very fluffy. |
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I use egg whites for a healthy omelet, just make sure you don't mix them with milk or cheese before cooking. Cook the egg whites until almost done and then fill with your favorite cheese, canadian bacon, etc. |
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My grandmother adds egg whites to boiling vegetable soup, right before it's done (if I remember correctly, she stirs it with a wooden spoon to break them into smaller pieces). |
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It isn't a culinary application, but egg whites make great facial masks. I read this in Seventeen magazine years ago and still do this today! An egg white mask will temporarily tighten pores and skin for a mini-face lift. Simply whip up the egg whites and spread over cheeks, forehead, nose and chin. Add a dollop of honey for some moisture, or some scented rose water or lavendar for a nice, relaxing scent. (Editing this rather than adding a new answer, just to keep the non-culinary applications in one place.) Another non-culinary application is glair for painting - a variant of watercolor. Whip an egg white until very stiff (way past the "stiff but not dry" advice of cookbooks), then let it sit until it re-liquefies. Remove the crusty stuff from the top, and put the rest in a clean jar. To paint with it, combine the glair with your choice of powdered pigment in a small palette (I use clam shells), using just enough glair to make it flow from your brush. It can help to add just a touch of honey to keep the paint film more flexible. If needed, thin with a little water. Note that the older the glair, the better it works. It will get stinky, but not rotten-egg stinky, because there's no sulfur in it. |
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Well, there's soufflé, of course. Although that also has egg yolks in it, but the more important part is the egg white, so perhaps you can experiment with that? |
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