Baking with Duck Eggs

I made another angel food cake.  I learned from my mistakes and this time it was even better.  You don't have to take my word for it.  We went out to dinner on Friday night and I brought the cake along as my contribution to the meal.  Mike, Scott, Lisa, their son Ryan and even baby Peyton (Ryan's daughter) all loved it.

Mike and I chose to bring the angel food cake as dessert because a) it uses 10 duck eggs and there are lots more where those came from and b) it gives us a chance to brag about how delicious our fresh duck eggs are in baked goods.  According to the Internet and Mr. Jackson (who talked us into taking two of his ducks), duck eggs make cakes richer and fluffier.

What was interesting is what happened when we explained all this to our dinner companions.  We passed on that Mr. Jackson had worked in a restaurant and said they used duck eggs in their desserts.  Ryan's wife is a pastry chef at the Four Seasons in St Louis.  He texted her at work to ask if she used duck eggs in her desserts.  She said no.

Now I don't now what to think.  I went back to the Internet and this time I notice that most of the articles about how pastry chefs use duck eggs are by people with a vested interest in pushing duck eggs to home cooks - like magazines about backyard ducks or farmer's market type businesses.  Plus the only person who told us that duck eggs were used by pastry chefs, Mr. Jackson, had his own agenda.  He was trying to get rid of some of his ducks by giving them to me.  

I guess it really doesn't matter whether pastry chefs use duck eggs or not.  Bottom line, I am learning to make angel food cake and everyone is enjoying eating the experiment.  Mom says her mother, my grandma Drollinger, made the best angel food cake.  Maybe it will become one of those desserts people will request I make.  Maybe I can continue the tradition.