Is it true that freshly laid eggs have different baking properties than older supermarket eggs?
Because egg whites thin with age, some bakers theorize that the weakened proteins of eggs even a few weeks old can stretch more than those from just-laid eggs, leading to cakes that rise higher and have a softer, more tender texture than cakes made with the freshest eggs.
To test this theory, we made our Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake with 7-week-old supermarket eggs (we determined their age by the date on the carton) and eggs from a Vermont farm laid a few days before. Any differences we found were slight. The cake made with store-bought eggs dissolved a little more quickly on the tongue, and the cake made with the farm-fresh eggs was a little more “toothsome.” But only a few tasters actually detected these variations in texture. Did one cake rise higher than the other? No.
The bottom line: Don’t pass up farm-fresh eggs in hopes of baking a better cake—age doesn’t matter. Besides, you’re probably just as likely to scramble or fry your eggs, dishes where freshness truly matters.