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Welcome to Kitchen Queries, where the nigella.com team will answer your cooking or food related questions.  We’d love you to submit some of your recipe problems, dilemmas or queries for us to get our teeth into!

Please note, we are only able to answer questions selected for publication and aren't able to enter into personal correspondence.

Egg Sizes

I have a cake recipe that needs three large eggs but what do I do if I only have medium eggs?

Posted by linedancer. Answered on 28th Jan 2012 at 15.17

From the nigella team:

First we assume that you are referring to UK egg sizes as standard sizes do vary across countries. In the UK medium eggs are defined as those that weigh (still in their shells) between 53g and 63g and large are those that weigh between 63g and 73g. So if you have some scales handy then you may be able to pick out the larger eggs in the box and weigh them, then if they are at the top end of the medium weight range you should just be able to use them instead of large eggs.

If your medium eggs are on the small side then it will slightly depend on the recipe. If you are making a Victoria sponge then you can weigh the 3 eggs and just use the equivalent weight in butter, sugar and self-raising flour. However if the cake ingredients use other liquid ingredients, such as milk, you could use half of an extra beaten egg (approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons), though it is usually more practical just to seperate an extra egg and add the yolk to the cake batter to make up the difference. 

For the US the egg sizes are slightly different so a medium egg is defined as greater than 1.75 ounces, a large egg is defined as greater than 2 ounces and extra large as greater than 2.25 ounces. These sizes are smaller than the UK so a US extra large egg is actually the equivalent of a UK large egg. Nigella's recent US books mention using extra large eggs in the notes on the first couple of pages.

For Australia a medium egg is defined as 43g, a large egg as 52g and extra large egg as 60g. So an Australian extra large egg is the eqivalent to a UK large egg.

No Fuss Fruit Tart Base

Hi all, I recently cooked the No Fuss Fruit Tart from Kitchen (p177), but found that the base was far too dry and did not set. I was using the commonly available arrowroot biscuits in Australia (375g, as per the recipe), as an an equivalent to "digestive biscuits". Just wondering if the biscuit I was using was incorrect, or the 75g butter amount is incorrect. The filling was very nice, by the way!

Posted by spoulos. Answered on 27th Jan 2012 at 3.22

From the nigella team:

We suspect that the arrowroot biscuits were the reason for the tart base not setting. Arrowroot biscuits tend to be dryer than digestive biscuits as they are similar to a British rich tea biscuit. Looking at the nutritional information it appears that arrowroot biscuits contain less fat than digestives (approximately 30% vs 42% for digestives) and it is the fat in the biscuits plus the butter that tends to help the biscuit base to set.

You could still use the arrowroot biscuits as a base, but will need to add some extra butter. We would guess that the butter will need to be increased by around 15g - 30g (1-2 tablespoons). Start by adding 15g extra soft butter to the mixture then scoop out a teaspoonful of the biscuit mixture and press it between your fingers. If the mixture is starting to hold together then you should be able to use it for the base, but if it still feels a little dry and crumbly add another 15g butter, process and test again.

Also, when forming the base you need to press the crumb mixture down firmly. Using the base of a glass, measuing cup, or something similar, to press the crumbs into the tart tin will help to get a firm, even base.

Brownies Problem

I made brownies for the first time a couple of weeks ago and they came out perfectly. The top was glossy and cracked and looked just like the picture. But I have made them twice since and done exactly the same thing but they just look lumpy. They taste lovely but don't look very nice. What am I doing wrong?

Posted by Melspells. Answered on 22nd Jan 2012 at 18.06

From the nigella team:

It is slightly difficult to pinpoint the problem of lumpy brownies without knowing the exact recipe but most brownie batters conatin melted chocolate and we suspect this may be the potentail problem. Chocolate needs to be treated carefully when it is being melted, it can easily overheat and can a also "sieze" if it comes into contact with liquids. In both cases the chocolate can become grainy, possibly stiff and slightly lumpy, and difficult to cook with.

To help stabilize the chocolate try to melt it very gently and melt it with the butter from the recipe as the two can melt together and the butter will mix more easily with the chocolate if they are mixed together. Both butter and chocolate melt at just above body temperature so do this in a bowl set over a pan of hot water and make sure that the base of the bowl is not touching the water and also check that no steam or water can get into mixture as it melts. You will then stir in eggs and sugar and it helps to have the eggs at room temperature. Finally flour, raising agent and possibly cocoa should be sifted into the melted mixture and folded in but try not to overmix.

Nigella's Everyday Brownies in Kitchen (p217) don't use melted chocolate so you could always try this recipe as an easy alternative.