Get crackin' — When it comes to baking, you can't beat eggs

Most people think of eggs only during Easter when they're hard-boiled and sitting in a basket of plastic grass.

But eggs are a crucial component of holiday baking. They bind ingredients together in quiches and pies. They thicken sauces and give structure to cookies and cake batter. A beaten egg brushed on pastries gives a gloss that protects against sogginess. Whipped egg whites give meringue and souffles their fluffy height.

The yolks act as an emulsifier to keep the fat and liquid from separating in salad dressings or cake batters. Anne Byrn, in her book "The Cake Mix Doctor" (Workman, $14.95), describes emulsifiers as "skilled party hosts. They mingle, introducing two guests — fat and water, for example — and work the room, making sure everyone is chatting and the party is one thick and happy batter."

In from-scratch cakes, the egg yolk is the only emulsifier. But baking mixes contain added emulsifiers, such as mono- and diglycerides, sodium-steroyl lactylate or soy lecithin.

Eggs are about 65 percent water, 11.8 percent protein and 11 percent fat, according to Tony Fassio of Fassio Egg Farms Inc., Utah's second-largest egg producer. The yolk contains all of the egg's fat and about a little less than half of the protein, and all the vitamins A, D and E. The white is seven-eighths water, one-eighth protein and no fat.

These egg proteins change when you whip them, heat them or combine them with other ingredients, according to Letty Flatt, executive pastry chef at Deer Valley Resort.

"Although eggs provide strength, they are delicate and fragile and need to be handled properly," she said.

Egg proteins are shaped like cooked noodles, long and curled and bundled up. The proteins become partially "unbundled" when they are whipped, and they wrap around the air bubbles created by whipping, according to Flatt. These air pockets give souffles or meringue their pouf, but they can deflate if not added to other ingredients gently.

Eggs are easier to separate (the yolk from the white) when they're cold. But they beat to their biggest volume when they're at room temperature, 65 to 75 degrees. Instead of letting eggs sit on the counter for several hours (which could allow salmonella bacteria to grow), Fassio suggests setting them in warm water for a few minutes before beating. (Be sure the water isn't hot, or it will cook the egg).