raw egg yolk in frosting

[sugar plum]

I just made Ina Garten's Beatty's Chocolate Cake from her latest cookbook for a co-worker's birthday. Great recipe by the way. Made for a simple, moist, oh-so-chocolate-y cake. Yum!

Her recipe for chocolate frosting included a raw egg yolk...which I omitted as I'm not keen on eating them (we work with a few pregnant staff members too). I thought it tasted fine without the egg yolk and don't really understand why it's needed in the recipe? I've never seen a raw egg yolk in icing/frosting recipes before. This isn't a recipe where it's cooked through the process (i.e. Italian buttercream, etc.) it was just added with the flavourings of vanilla and coffee. Is an egg yolk there just to add to the frosting's richness?

[david coonce]

If you thought it tasted fine without the egg yolk then leave it out. If you tasted it with the egg yolk you'd understand why it's in there - richness, yes, but also for binding ability and overall,um, unctuous-ness.

It's a lot like a vinaigrette or mayonnaise - the egg yolk helps them stay together and also adds to the richness. And neither of those are cooked.

If you're really concerned about the raw egg yolk, and it's an understandable concern with pregnant women, you can buy pasteurized eggs.

[CaliPoutine]

I just made Ina Garten's Beatty's Chocolate Cake from her latest cookbook for a co-worker's birthday. Great recipe by the way. Made for a simple, moist, oh-so-chocolate-y cake. Yum!

Just an FYI, That chocolate cake is also called Black Magic Cake from Hershey's cocoa. You can find it on hershey's wesbite as well as a number of other places. I was kinda surprised when I noticed that the recipe is exactly the same.

I make that cake a lot at home and I've introduced it to my work. I usually make Hershey's one bowl buttercream with it.

[sugar plum]

Just an FYI, That chocolate cake is also called Black Magic Cake from Hershey's cocoa.  You can find it on hershey's wesbite as well as a number of other places.  I was kinda surprised when I noticed that the recipe is exactly the same.

I make that cake a lot at home and I've introduced it to my work.  I usually make Hershey's one bowl buttercream with it.

←

Oh my gosh, it IS exactly the same! I just had to check on the Hershey's website to make sure.

Thank you David for the raw egg yolk information. I didn't miss their "unctuousness" and will probably continue to avoid putting them in my frosting recipes.

[Nyleve Baar]

My mother's chocolate frosting recipe is made with raw egg yolk - I'm too lazy to go look it up right now but I think there are 2 or 3 of them in the frosting. It is truly creamy and delicious. The egg seems to help eliminate any residual grittiness from the icing sugar. Very very smooth.

I make it. I eat it. I have served it to adults and children alike. So go ahead - sue me.

[fiftydollars]

I agree with adding the yolk. It makes a big difference. Not enough to risk exposing a bunch of pregnant women to salmonella, but enough to warrant buying pasteurized eggs or pasteurizing your own.

I'm not surprised that Ina Garten is lifting recipes. I've always suspected her of as much... and I also think Jeffrey is cheating.