If you’ve been missing desserts since you went gluten free, then you’ve come to the right place. This is the last in a three-part series on eggs, and we’ve been learning how to crack and separate an egg, beat egg whites, and beat egg yolks. All three of these skill are used in gluten free baking, especially in desserts like meringues, crème brûlée, mousses, and Pavlovas.

In this post we’ll learn how to beat egg yolks to the ribbon stage, and then we’ll make some yummy crème brûlée.

How to Beat Egg Yolks

Beating egg yolks is much simpler than beating egg whites. Your goal is for the color of the yolks to change from bright yellow-orange to a pale, pale yellow and for the yolks to thicken to the point that they fall from the beaters in a ribbon.

1. Place chilled egg yolks in a mixing bowl and begin to beat them with a mixer or whisk.

2. After beating the yolks a few times, gradually begin adding sugar, if the recipes calls for it.

3. Continue beating the yolk until they thicken and the color of the yolks is pale yellow, like this.

When you pull the beaters or whisk from the yolks, the yolks should fall from the beaters in a ribbon.

When the ribbons hit the surface of the yolks, they should stay on top for a moment and then dissipate.

Classic Crème Brûlée Recipe

(Yield: 6 servings)

6 egg yolks
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 c. whipping cream
1/2 c. soy milk (or whatever you use for drinking)
Additional sugar for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease 6 ramekins and place them in a large glass casserole dish. Put a pot of water on to boil for the water bath.

2. Beat the egg yolks, gradually adding the sugar, until the yolks are a pale yellow and fall from the beater in a ribbon.

3. Gently whisk or stir in the whipping cream and soy milk. (Try to avoid creating air bubbles during this step.)

4. Pour the mixture into the ramekins. Open your oven and pull the top rack of your oven out. Place the casserole dish on the rack, and then slowly pour the boiling water into the casserole dish. Gently push the rack back into the oven so that the water does not splash onto your crème brûlée.

If you’re unfamiliar with preparing a water bath for custards, this is what it will look like once you get it all in the oven.

5. Cook for approximately 45 minutes. The crème brûlée will still be a little wiggly in the middle, but it will firm up as it cools. Place the ramekins on a wire rack until they are cool enough to put in the refrigerator. Allow the crème brûlée to chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours (if you can wait that long!)

6. Sprinkle 2 tsp. of sugar on each crème brûlée, and then either use a torch to melt the sugar, or put the ramekins in the oven under the broiler until the sugar liquefies and browns. Wait just a moment to let the sugar harden, and then enjoy!

Related Posts:

• Egg Series No. 1: How to Beat Egg Whites
• Getting Started on a Gluten Free Diet
• Double Chocolate Brownies
• For Midnight Snacking: Rice Chex Treats
• Two Minutes to Homemade Bread

I remember the first time I tried to beat egg whites by myself. I beat and beat and beat (with a whisk), and nothing happened. Luckily, Mom came into the kitchen right before I broke into tears and started questioning me about what I had done thus far.

“Did you dry the bowl before you put the egg whites in?” “No.” “Well, that’s your problem. They won’t whip up if there is any water at all in the bowl or on the whisk”

Mom was kind enough to separate more egg whites for me and wash and dry my bowl. I started beating again and soon had lovely white peaks =)

Beaten egg whites are a common leavening agent in gluten free cooking. Even if that’s all they were used for, it would be a technique worth learning. However, once you’ve learned to beat an egg you’ll be able to make souffles, meringues, Pavlovas, and mousses too.

Gluten Free Mommy just posted a recipe for Chocolate Marble Bread with Chocolate Ganache and it calls for two beaten egg whites, so head over to her site for some additional egg white beating homework.

How to Beat Egg Whites

1. Separate the egg whites from the yolk and pour the egg whites into a clean, dry bowl*. If the yolk breaks and gets into the egg whites, just use part of the shell to scoop the yolk out.

2. Allow the egg whites to come to room temperature before you start beating.

3. With the mixer on low, begin beating the egg whites. The first change that you should notice is that the eggs will start to froth.

4. Keep beating and begin to turn up the speed. Soon you will notice that the mixer is leaving tracks in the egg whites. This is a good sign =)

5. Keep beating. After a minute or two turn the mixer off and lift the beaters out of the whites. If the eggs pull up into a peak (like a mountain peak) and then curl over, as in the picture below, then you’re at the soft peak stage. Congratulations! If the peaks collapse back down, then keep beating a bit longer.

6. If the recipe specifies that the egg whites should be beaten until they hold a stiff peak, then you’ll continue beating until the tip of the peak no longer curls over.

If you’d like to practice, try my recipe for Forgotten Cookies.

* Copper or stainless steel bowls work best, but I often use a glass bowl and get good results.

Related Posts:

• Egg Series No. 1: How to Beat Egg Yolks & Crème Brûlée Recipe
• Getting Started on a Gluten Free Diet
• Two Minutes to Homemade Bread
• The Linguistic Challenges of Slicing an Avocado
• How to Use Bean Flours