How to fix recipe?

[jasonr]

I have a hazelnut torte recipe I got from this book, I Love Chocolate! that I am going to use for Passover, because it's one of the few good looking cake recipes that doesn't have flour.

It's pretty straightforward, but there's one part that worries me, the hazelnut cream filling. It's a standard gelatin based mousse recipe (whipped cream, ground hazelnuts, gelatin) but it's got raw egg in it. I have never seen a commercial recipe that has you using raw egg in anything that isn't going to get baked or pasteurized.

Here's the recipe:

2 egg yolks, 1 egg
1 3/4 cup cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp gelatin
60 g caramelized hazelnuts
1/4 cup ground toasted hazelnuts
1/2 vanilla bean
A pinch of salt

So how do I fix this recipe? Isn't it dangerous to eat raw egg? Any ideas? I just finished making the filling and it's actually pretty decent. I'd like to keep it as is if possible, although I guess I may have to substitute another mousse. Just how dangerous is raw egg?

 

[Wyogal]

Can you substitute pasteurized egg product that comes in a carton? I know folks that don't mind eating raw egg, as long as it is a good quality brand, but I would rather not. What type of gelatin are you using?

 

[Alix]

Buttercream recipes routinely use raw egg in them jason. I think you are probably just fine as long as you use a commercial egg. I've been told that eggs these days have virtually no risk of salmonella if they are from a store like Safeway etc.

Edit: Did a quick search and found this "The inside of an egg was once considered almost sterile. But, over recent years, the bacterium Salmonella enteritidis (Se) has been found inside a small number of eggs. Scientists estimate that, on average across the U.S., only 1 of every 20,000 eggs might contain the bacteria. So, the likelihood that an egg might contain Se is extremely small – 0.005% (five one-thousandths of one percent). At this rate, if you’re an average consumer, you might encounter a contaminated egg once every 84 years." at This site.

 

[Callisto in NC]

IIR from many conversations here, commercially sold eggs are fine to use and eat raw. I would watch out for eggs bought from a country stand by the side of the road, but eggs bought at the grocery are just fine.

 

[SharonT]

Many larger supermarkets also carry pasteurized eggs. David's is one brand.

 

[themonkeytree]

I am not much of a baker, but I assume you can use pasteruized eggs. As for eating raw eggs that are not pasteruized, eat at your own risk. I have eaten raw eggs before, but I would not recommend.

 

[jasonr]

What type of gelatin are you using?

Pastry 1 brand leaf gelatin.

I am not much of a baker, but I assume you can use pasteruized eggs

Well there's certainly such a thing as pasteurized egg white, but I can't say I've ever seen a pasteurized whole egg or pasteurized egg yolk.

Buttercream recipes routinely use raw egg in them jason.

Both Swiss and Italian meringue type buttercreams have you incorporating 240 degree + sugar syrup, which pasteurizes the egg. I have never seen a buttercream recipe that did not do so.

I guess I'll just use the raw egg. From my reading on the Internet, it looks like there's very little risk. Still, I can't help but wonder why it is necessary to use the raw egg. I have seen many mousse recipes that follow the same pattern as this one, and none of them used raw egg. In fact, most of them use Italian meringue, which is of course pasteurized.

Still, this recipe does taste very good.

 

[Alix]

The buttercream recipe I use does not incorporate anything of that temperature jason. I think that the egg is there for keeping things emulsified and yet a bit "looser" than a conventional icing. I could be totally wrong, but that was always my understanding.

 

[jasonr]

The buttercream recipe I use does not incorporate anything of that temperature jason. I think that the egg is there for keeping things emulsified and yet a bit "looser" than a conventional icing. I could be totally wrong, but that was always my understanding.

Is it a French meringue type? How does it work?

 

[LPBeier]

Jason, because you don't have the method there (and that is good for copyright reasons), I am not sure how you are doing it, but if you are to beat the eggs until they are pale and "fluffy", you are actually in a small sense pasteurizing the eggs through the beating process. At least this is what we learned at school. As long as the eggs are beat for a good length of time until their texture changes considerably, and you are combining them with other ingredients, you should be okay. But this is just IMHO from what I have learned.

I make a French silk tart (chocolate) which has the eggs beaten for 10 minutes at minimum. I have never had anyone get sick and I have made this many times. Also, you should keep it refrigerated, don't let it sit out long and don't keep it more than a day or two.

 

[jasonr]

Jason, because you don't have the method there (and that is good for copyright reasons), I am not sure how you are doing it, but if you are to beat the eggs until they are pale and "fluffy", you are actually in a small sense pasteurizing the eggs through the beating process. At least this is what we learned at school. As long as the eggs are beat for a good length of time until their texture changes considerably, and you are combining them with other ingredients, you should be okay. But this is just IMHO from what I have learned.

Interesting point. I didn't beat it too much this time, but I'll keep that in mind for next time. Why would beating air into the egg kill the bacteria, by the way? I'm curious about the explanation.

Incidentally, the recipe doesn't really specify the method in detail, it just tells you the ingredients and the order to incorporate them. I do things the same way with most mousses: Beat eggs and sugar, incorporate gelatin, folder in whipped cream (soft peaks) with ground hazelnuts and ground caramelized hazelnuts. Pretty straightforward.

 

[Alix]

Is it a French meringue type? How does it work?
[/FONT]

Sorry jason I missed this til now. I'll go find my recipe for you.

 

[SharonT]

Well there's certainly such a thing as pasteurized egg white, but I can't say I've ever seen a pasteurized whole egg or pasteurized egg yolk.

I thought it was David's, but it's Davidson's