Baking with Duck Eggs

I made my favorite biscotti recipe today, using 1 duck egg in place of 1 of the 3 chicken eggs. First I weighed the eggs; the duck egg weighed about 20% more than the extra-large chicken egg, and these were only small duck eggs! Next I adjusted the recipe to compensate for the larger amount of beaten eggs, and proceeded as usual.

The first noticeable difference is that the duck eggs have a much harder shell. My normal one-handed cracking into the bowl didn’t work! Then, I think the eggs beat up to the ribbon-y stage quicker although I wouldn’t swear to that. Lastly, the sliced biscotti certainly had more rise than with just chicken eggs, as you can see in the photo above.

I have not tried an over-easy duck egg for breakfast yet. I eat a lot of hard-boiled eggs in summer, but I have read that duck eggs can become rubbery if over-cooked. So, no hard-boiled duck eggs here (not soon, anyway). My neighbor says duck eggs make the best cornbread!

I believe if I had baked a cake or something else that wasn’t such a quick rise, the difference in loft would be greater. I have 3 duck eggs remaining, and if time permits this week I will bake something else with them for another comparison. I’m thinking cream puffs, but no promises!