Just a small post about a big problem for many folks who love to make Breakfast treats like Pancakes, Waffles and French Toast, but can’t seem to get the ingredients to combine smoothly. There is a way to ensure that the spices don’t all end up in the first unit off the grill…
Classic failed French Toast Dip. The spices are sitting on top of the Egg mixture
like an oil slick and even climbing up the walls of the bowl,
trying to escape their fate!
There you are, still half asleep, mixing up your French Toast Dip, Cracking the Eggs, measuring the Milk and carefully adding just a few drops of Vanilla Extract. Then you toss in the Cinnamon, or Nutmeg or whatever, and your smile turns upside down. All the powdered spices are floating on top of the Eggs and, worse, they’re climbing up the sides of the mixing bowl trying to escape their fate.
It’s simple, but not obvious…
Eggs are mostly Fat (the Yolk) and Protien (the Albumen). Unless you whisk the eggs near to death before adding the spices, the Albumen will act as a slippery slick on the mixture, preventing the spices from mixing in. Even if you do whisk the eggs until the colour of the Yolks lightens and the mixture becomes slightly more homogeneous, the Albumen will still be sticky.
Now, there’s no problem mixing the Milk into the Eggs. It’s also composed mainly of Fat and Protein. A kissing Cousin to Eggs, actually.
Here’s the secret…
If you whisk the powdered spices into the Milk first, before adding the Milk to the Eggs, it will distribute itself evenly throughout both the Milk and the Eggs! The Protein in the Milk – even Heavy Cream – is much thinner in consistency and more homogenized than the Albumen of the Egg, making blending much easier.
For Pancakes and Waffles, just add the spices to the Flour, Salt and Baking Powder, and whisk well, both to distribute the dry ingredients evenly throughout the mix and to get some air into the Flour. Whisking, when used on dry ingredients, has been called the poor cook’s sifter!
Hope this tip works for you as well as it always has for me!
~ Maggie J.