My First Experience Baking With Duck Eggs, had to include meeting the duck responsible for the beautiful eggs. I have my friend Sue, her husband Dave and son Jason to thank for sharing the feeding time for pictures and of course, the eggs. It didn’t take long for me to decide what to bake with the golden eggs.
Lucky Ducks
The saying ‘lucky duck’ fits perfectly for the ducks delivered to this family a year ago. Their original owner was no longer able to care for them, and his friend Tony knew of the ideal spot. The setting is beautiful, but not near as admirable as the care and attention they get from Jason, not to mention the love. The connection between Jason and the ducks is heart warming. He calls them, he feeds them, and he can move fast as lightning to catch them. That’s exactly what he did so I could get a picture of the hen (female duck) responsible for the eggs. Isn’t she cute?
5 0’clock Feed Time
It was two trips out to get the duck pictures, and feed time was going to be the best; that’s early morning or 5 o’clock. The first trip was an afternoon trip, and they would have nothing to do with me or even coming close to Jason. They knew there was a stranger in the grass. So, a couple of days later I went at 5 for the feeding. It was so cute how they were all in their spot right by the barn just waiting for the feed. I felt like I had disturbed their ritual. Jason caught the hen for pictures, and the guys (drakes) scattered. I hope they’ll forgive me.
The Golden Eggs
I was like a little kid when I first saw the eggs. I couldn’t believe the difference in size, the weight, and as you can see, the girls were pretty excited too. When I say golden eggs, there is a little truth to it. The nutritional profile of a duck egg is very similar to a chicken egg except for the protein and fat content. The duck eggs have a higher concentration of omega-3 fatty acids and a higher level of protein. These higher levels make them the perfect supplement to people following a paleo diet. A Paleo diet is eating anything you can hunt or gather. Think cave man days: meat, fish, nuts, leafy greens, veggies and seeds. The higher fat content in duck eggs helps balance the paleo diet.
Chicken Eggs vs. Duck Eggs
I positioned the eggs so you can see the difference in size and the vivid color of the yolk. Here are a few more differences.
- Duck eggs are about 50% larger than a jumbo sized chicken egg.
- Colors vary by breed.
- The shell is thicker than a chicken supposedly giving it a longer shelf life. (tough to crack)
- The egg white in a duck egg is almost transparent. (really transparent)
- The yolk is much larger and darker. The darker yolk in any egg is a sign of the chicken or duck being free range. If your chicken yolk is light in color, they probably were raised like you, and I would not like to be raised.
- The duck egg yolk has a higher level of fat and cholesterol.
- The larger duck yolk has a higher level of protein. The duck’s diet consists of bugs, snails, and slugs and other high protein critters which make the perfect egg.
My First Experience Baking With Duck Eggs
When I first googled ‘recipes with duck eggs’ lots of sponge cakes popped up. So, I baked two. One off the internet and the Sponge Cake recipe I posted last year. The recipe from the internet was just duck eggs, flour a very little sugar, made in 8 inch round pans. It didn’t do too much for me. Because of the smaller sponge, the blogger had 3 pieces stacked with cream in between and berries on top. When I saw this, I thought for sure I could alter my recipe with a similar look. You can see the two recipes un-iced pictured together in the photo above.
For my sponge cake, I made just a few changes.
- I used 3 duck eggs instead of 4 chicken eggs.
- I beat the egg whites and sugar together for at least 5 minutes.
- Added one duck egg yolk at a time.
- Folded water and flour in gradually.
- Baked in two round 9 in. lined pans.
Now for the critiques. As you can see my sponge cake recipe made a much bigger cake and notice the deep color. I had never made it in two 9 inch pans but I liked how it turned out and will try it again. My friend Sue, loved the cake and thought the texture was a mix between a sponge and a pound cake. My neighbor Carol, thought it was also dense, dryer and similar to a strawberry shortcake texture. So there you have it, but before you go I have to tell you about this fabulous whipped cream recipe I found.
Stabilized Whipped Cream
What a great find. You are going to love what the gelatin does and that is the only change up to whipping heavy cream. I couldn’t believe what a difference it made. In fact, I transported the cake as you see it in my car on a 90 plus degree day. I was heading out to the country to take pictures of the ducks. There was no movement, no melting and no separation of the cream. It held up perfectly. I can’t imagine making a whipping cream topping without it. I made a separate post with the recipe and you can find it HERE.
Well, thanks so much for being here and I hope you’ve learned something new today. A big thank you goes out to Jason, Sue, and Dave for letting me in on a little piece of their love. If you cook with duck eggs consider leaving a note in the comments for the Sock Box 10 community.
Thanks for stopping by, Rose