Too many eggs

[Malawry]

I bought 5doz eggs for a class I was teaching tonight, since I was planning to cover egg cookery and wanted everybody to have a chance to experiment. We ran out of time and they ended up being perfectly happy to watch me demonstrate and then eat my samples (which, well, at least they were properly cooked, so I guess it's not a big deal). Of course, now I have way too many eggs hanging about. What can I make with them that can be frozen?

These foods must be freezable until at least late April in a relatively "clean" freezer (no oniony type things in there) without deterioration. I am thinking of putting together some baked goods that I can make now for after my baby is born in April...it'd be nice to be able to offer something homemade to the inevitable guests without having to actually bake at that time. I have RLB's Cake Bible and would love suggestions that use this book and use a lot of eggs...also, I have no idea if meringues and whatnot freeze well. Can I make completed cakes with Italian buttercream for the freezer? Are there other pastries that are egg-heavy that freeze well?

There is a sister topic to this one in the Cooking forum which I plan to pillage for savory ideas.

[Rachel Perlow]

I think I read somewhere that you can make pate a choux, pipe it out, like for eclairs or cream puffs and IQF them raw, bake from frozen. That would certainly use up a lot of eggs, but I'd want confirmation from a baker who knows it would work before making a bunch of pate a choux.

Something I know would work is making up quiche filling. Actually, make up the custard part, leave out the cheese and/or veggies. Freeze flat in baggies of an amount to fit your tart pan. (May as well make the crusts too, freeze them flat, individually wrapped, store in a pizza box in the freezer). Frozen flat, they defrost in no time. Put crust in tart pan, put leftover veggies, shredded/cubed cheese, etc. on top, pour in defrosted custard. Voila, easy lunch for post baby drop bys.

You could also just freeze the eggs by themselves. First, scrambled, in amounts you might use to make breakfast for the two of you, say 4 eggs per baggie? And, whites and yolks separately - for making meringues or creme brulee. Just mark how many are in each baggie.

[Malawry]

Baked choux freezes pretty well...I've baked choux buns and mini eclairs and frozen them for a few weeks plenty of times in the past. I'm just not convinced I'll be in a position to make creme patisserie (or whatever) and fuss with filling those suckers when the baby arrives on the scene. The quiche is a good idea, though, I noted it in the thread Torakris started and thought I might give it a shot.

[Sugarella]

I'd bake the pate de choux first like Malawry suggested. It freezes very well. You can bake whole cakes and freeze them , decorated even, and they keep just fine so long as well wrapped. Pretty much anything from the cake bible will work well. Or you can always freeze indivdual cake components for putting together later. Big time saver there for when you need a cake fast.

When I've got a ton of extra eggs I usually make things that use either yolks or whites as their main component, like curds or meringue buttercreams, both of which freeze very well. That way they're already done and I don't have half-eggs lying around waiting to be used.

Quiche is also great....prebake your tart shells in the pans then fill & freeze. Bake from frozen..bake times will vary but you'll want to treat them the same as a cake, testing with a metal spike for doneness.

Cheesecake is also good to make ahead and it freezes very well.

Ice cream is another option......

Chocolate covered ice cream bon bons.........

Chocolate covered cheesecake bon bons.....

Truffle torte chocolate covered bon bons.....

Er.....I think maybe it's time for me to head over to the PMS thread.....

[ludja]

A couple of pound cakes will use up a dozen, at least. They freeze nicely and are versatile later on for breakfasts, snacks, and in desserts by themselves or not.

If you have some nice cheesecake recipes, those can use up a goodly number of eggs and also freeze well. My mom has a killer recipe that uses 12 eggs!

Cheesecakes and pound cakes sound like a nice treat for a new Mom and Dad or for visiting guests. Pound cakes are nice in the afternoon with a cup of tea too, for guests that drop by.

[Malawry]

Hey, I love that bonbon idea Sugarella! (Sounds like food for BEFORE the baby arrives, actually...) Do I need to do anything special with bonbons for the freezer? I mean, if chocolate gets refrigerated it blooms...does it do the same when frozen, or is there a way to package it so I can get it to retain that alluring snap?

Pound cakes, mmmm. I have a Bundt pan dying for a workout. These are great, folks, thanks.

[Sugarella]

Chocolate blooms when refridgerated?? Hmmmm.... never refridgerated any. I'll take your word for it though.

For my ice cream bon bons I just scoop bite sized balls....same for cake or oblivion torte from the cake bible. (Roll those into bon bons same as you would for truffle ganache....do it cold.) Cheesecake can just be cut into small squares. For dipping I just use a bain marie with tempered chocolate, just dipping the same as you would for a hand rolled truffle. I store them all in rubbermaid type containers, often with tissue paper crinkled up in there so they're not touching each other, or to help absorb any moisture if my freezer at home decides to have a coniption and defrost itself for no good reason. How long they last I can't really say....around here 2 weeks max!

I use callebaut chocolate....don't know if that makes any difference but I've never noticed any sort of bloom. But these are eaten from frozen....I betcha they would bloom if you let them thaw. (The oblivion torte tastes funny/has a funny texure if you freeze/thaw it, but eating it frozen it's just a thick fudge, really.)

As far as snap goes.... well it's not quite the same because you're eating frozen chocolate, but yes it's still got a bit of snap.

Edited February 3, 2006 by Sugarella (log)

[jsolomon]

Malawry, my suggestion would be more toward the casserole side of things. Eggs are spectacular binders, and you'll have less time than you would like to cook. If you gauge how long your tolerance is of leftovers, and create frozen dishes that you can oven-reheat to fit within those tolerances using the eggs, you'll have a better post-partum period.

All the best!

-j

P.S. Don't forget your RDA of bread pudding!

[SuzySushi]

Angel food cakes use spectacular amounts of egg whites.

The recipe for Portuguese Egg Wraps on RecipeGullet uses 18 egg yolks. I have no idea whether it freezes successfully but it sure sounds yummy!

[sanrensho]

  Malawry said:

Can I make completed cakes with Italian buttercream for the freezer?

You could also make a large batch of several buttercreams and several cakes, which you could then freeze separately. That way you would have more flexibility in building your cakes with different flavors. Would take up less space, too.

I would use up the yolks first because the whites can easily be frozen.

[Fat Guy]

I'd have little trouble going through four dozen eggs in the normal course of things. I mean, if you have six people over for weekend brunch and make a couple of big frittatas, that's two dozen eggs right there (you'll have some leftovers, but still). A double batch of chocolate chip cookies uses four eggs. You get quite a bit of time to use your eggs. You normally have several weeks until the sell-by date during which time the eggs are usable as eggs for omelettes etc., and then you can easily go a few weeks past that for baking and such, and as you get to the end of the usable life of the eggs you can hard cook and peel a bunch and use those for a couple of weeks for egg salad, salad garnishes, deviled eggs and such. And eggs are so cheap -- four dozen probably cost $4 -- that, while I'm hesitant ever to recommend wasting food, it wouldn't be the end of the world here.

Then, having eaten or otherwise disposed of all those eggs, you'll be free to cook and freeze whatever you want for early motherhood -- beef stew, chili con carne, lasagna! -- so that when you're hovering within an inch of a nervous breakdown you don't have to open up the freezer and say, "I can't believe I cooked all this stuff with eggs that I didn't really want to eat; I want some damn chili."

[Malawry]

You might be right in some households, Fat Guy, but in my household we're SICK of eggs. They've been a little too rich for me during most of my pregnancy. I actually got sick off the sous vide eggs I had at Cafe Atlantico when you were here in DC a few months ago (I'm sure this was entirely about my pregnancy and not at all about the quality or safety of the egg), and I haven't been able to stomach them since. My esteemed spouse is trying to lose weight via a low-carb diet and he OD'd on eggs some time ago...he wants them maybe once every other week and that's it. I'm stopping work almost a month before my due date and plan to devote plenty of time to making all that chili and lasagna to stock the chest freezer at that time.

Thanks all for the tips. Especially Sugarella, I am really liking the cheesecake bonbon idea and may give them a shot when I have no classes next week. Do you just bake your cheesecake in a half-sheet pan for those? (I have both a half-sheet recipe and recipes scaled for regular springform pans.)

[lesfen]

Do you have any parties coming up? Super Bowl get-together? Deviled Eggs are my favorite way to use up eggs and I never have to worry about waste because they get snarfed up before I know it.

[Sugarella]

  Malawry said:

Do you just bake your cheesecake in a half-sheet pan for those? (I have both a half-sheet recipe and recipes scaled for regular springform pans.)

←

Any pan will work... just cut them into bite-sized pieces; squares, triangles, whatever. It's easiest, though, if you only bake the cheesecake about 1" high. Easier to stuff the whole thing in your mouth that way. Make sure your crust is thin too, in proportion to the cheesecake bites.

Oh, and the less dense recipes work best, because they are eaten frozen. Enjoy!

[Malawry]

So, I have a cheesecake. It's about 1" high and it's got bonbons written all over it. Do I freeze it and then cut it, or cut it from the fridge? Should I use the dental floss trick? Are ragged edges a big deal if I'm gonna just cloak them with chocolate? (Should I smooth the edges by hand?)

I've also made a banana cake and a bourbon pound cake. Next up is a yellow cake, then probably a sour-cream coffee cake and perhaps another cheesecake to use up the rest of my cream cheese. My freezer is getting well-stocked!

[little ms foodie]

Thomas Kellers icecream uses 6 egg yolks!

Also his recipe for gnocchi is a pate choux style, they freeze really well and are great for quick meals.

We also freeze egg white seperately in baggies as dayne makes some cocktails with egg whites so it is easy for him to grab them.

edited to add that I bake gougere and freeze them, perfect for when people stop by and you need a nice snack. You can bake them, freeze them and then just reheat them in a 350F oven for 10 mins or so.

Edited February 11, 2006 by little ms foodie (log)

[Sugarella]

  Malawry said:

So, I have a cheesecake. It's about 1" high and it's got bonbons written all over it. Do I freeze it and then cut it, or cut it from the fridge? Should I use the dental floss trick? Are ragged edges a big deal if I'm gonna just cloak them with chocolate? (Should I smooth the edges by hand?)

←

Cut the cheesecake from cold; it's easier than frozen. Depending on the density you could use a knife or if dental floss works better for you then use that. Make them only about 1" square, because after the chocolate's on they'll be bigger.

If you're going to eat them from frozen then freeze the squares now; if you're going to eat from the fridge dip them now.

Ragged edges, depending on how bad they are, can be smoothed, yes, but I don't mind mine looking a little rustic. Mine are just for home use....not customers.

You won't actually dip them; otherwise the cold will throw your tempered chocolate off too quick. Instead, hold the square on the tips of your fingers of your non-dominant hand (palm up) and scoop and pour the chocolate across the outside perimeter of the top. (hope that makes sense) That'll cause it to drip down the sides and across the top as evenly as possible. You should do the pouring over a sheet of parchment, and make sure you dunk the bottoms into the chocolate that drips down. Any leftover chocolate that drips down can be saved and used later for ganache, because it most likely will be contaminated with some of the cheesecake.

You'll need 2 coats, as the first coat will crackle from the 2 temperature extremes coming together.

I think that just about covers it, basically. If you need more in depth instructions just hollar.

[Jason Perlow]

One word: Quiche.