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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

What to do with leftover egg yolks

Last week I ended up with 14 egg yolks in my fridge. I'd like to say I had no idea how this happened, or that it was the work of a particularly talented flock of chickens, but in truth it was directly related to the three pavlovas that were cooking  v e r y   s l o w l y  in my oven. I'll tell you about them another day.

In the meantime, I want to share with you what I did with them. First, I considered doing what my mother-in-law does and tipping them down the sink. Then I came to my senses and asked Twitter for advice.



There were many suggestions relating to custard and hollandaise, but Jen of Blue Kitchen Bakes came up with the most useful tip: freezing them. I knew you could freeze egg whites, but making yolk iceblocks was new to me. Jen said to freeze them with a pinch of salt or sugar (depending on their final use) - so that's what I did with eight of them.

Four then went into dinner - I'd forgotten what a seriously easy and delicious dinner spaghetti carbonara is: four egg yolks stirred together with a good splash of cream (maybe four tablespoons?), some Parmesan, some finely chopped parsley and some crispy bacon or ham tossed through hot spaghetti.

Two somehow ended up on the floor - oops - but if they hadn't I could have made mayonnaise or used one as a face mask (egg yolks are full of vitamin A, which is found in all the best beauty treatments, don't you know?). Or if we had a dog I could have mixed an egg yolk into its dinner for a pelt-improving protein boost.

But the next time I end up with a bunch of egg yolks - or at least 10 - I'm going to make like my lovely friend Andy suggested and whip up this creme brulee ice cream. Well, wouldn't you?

What do you do with leftover egg yolks? Or whites, for that matter?
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8 comments:

  1. b and e11:19 am, March 27, 2013

    Creme Brulee Ice Cream !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    That's all I have to say about that.
    !!!
    !
    !!!!!!! bxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Caz4:45 pm, March 27, 2013

    The Creme Brulee Icecream sounds delicious but I'd make Lemon Butter (curd). I made some recently for our school fete using whole eggs which got the thumbs up from the family but it was a bit 'eggy' for me. Next time I'm going to use a mix of whole eggs and yolks a la Nigel Slater http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/07/nigel-slater-lemon-curd-recipes
    or Alice Waters http://elementalstitches.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/07/lemon-summer-recipes-for-extra-lemons.html
    Having said that most of my yolks end up in Spaghetti Carbonara too but I don't use cream just a little of the pasta cooking water.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Genie @ Bunny Eats Design5:12 pm, March 27, 2013

    I avoid recipes that split eggs because I know I get lazy (or busy). After cooking one coveted recipe, the next logical step seems to lose priority.

    I made pavlova last month and I was going to make creme brulee with the yolks but got too busy and ended up throwing out the yolks. I wasn't certain how long yolks were good for and got cold feet. I wish I'd known that I could throw them into the freezer until inspiration struck again. At least I'll know for next time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. debby emadian5:21 am, March 28, 2013

    I had no idea that you could freeze eggs. I hardly ever buy them because Ahmad's friend at work has chickens who lay and he brings them for us as they are produced. I do loads of baking and we eat lots of eggs so that's fine...but sometimes there are just too many and they are so lovely with big yellow yolks...except when they escape and eat the asparagus in his veg patch and then they are a bit smelly!

    I love egg custard tarts and the Portuguese ones too. I often loose a few on the floor too...I hate to waste them so they just go in the compost.

    Loads of great ideas here. It reminded me that my mother-in-law used to make a conditioner for her hair with them...full of protein. leave it on a while and then give it a really good shampoo.

    Love the image of the eggs.

    ReplyDelete
  5. hungryandfrozen7:22 am, March 28, 2013

    I am usually the opposite and have multitudes of egg whites to use up! Yolks are more versatile things to have on hand but I didn't know you could freeze them - thanks for the tip!

    I tend to make ice cream or some kind of saucy sauce for pasta out of leftover egg yolks - carbonara is one of my favourites.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jean | Delightful Repast11:47 am, March 28, 2013

    Lucy, I'm more often figuring out what to do with leftover whites. Guess I'm going to have to start making pavlovas! Glad I popped in today!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Joshua Hampton (Cooking Classes San Diego)7:01 am, March 29, 2013

    Glad to learn something new today. I didn't know you could freeze egg yolks and I hate wasting food. Thanks for sharing this idea.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mairi @ Toast7:51 pm, April 07, 2013

    OMG...creme brulee ice cream??? Divine :) That is what I'll be doing :)

    ReplyDelete

Hello - thanks for stopping by. If this was real life I'd make you a cup of tea and open the biscuit tin, but in lieu of those things, let's have a chat anyway...