I am doing a cake for a large party (about 100 guests.) There will many many kids there. I was planning on using the Strawberry Cream cake filling recipe from this site. I noticed there is an egg white in the recipe, should I still go with it? Will substituting Meringue powder for the egg white effect the taste much?

Thanks!

Still learning,
~Kathleen

1 egg white between 100 people would not constitute a hazard in my book, but you could use pasteurized egg whites if you really want to be 100% safe. Good luck!

Hey, Kathleen:
I make IMBC and SMBC all the time w/ real eggs and haven't ever had a problem. (knock on wood!) However, you can use pasteurized egg whites in the refrigerator section next to eggs (make SURE when you buy the carton it says for making meringues... I've bought the other one before and it doesn't whip up) or the pasteurized egg white powder ("Just Whites".... I actually prefer that one over the carton). The egg board does suggest using the pasteurized eggs for serving young kids and pregnant ladies as they are more susceptible to Salmonella.
HTH,
Melanie Mc.

You could use the method I use for SMBC/mousse so the egg white is "cooked" -

Put the egg whites in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Keep whisking lightly so they don't scramble until they reach 145 degrees. At that temperature, any bacteria will be killed off, and the egg whites will whip up fine.

My SO has immune system issues, so I don't serve him anything that has raw eggs "just in case".

Thank you all for your great advice!!

In my culinary class, and also food safety class we learned instant kill for salmonella was 160-165 degrees, so I always heat my egg whites over a double boiler until they hit that point

I just double checked my ServSafe book, and it says to cook eggs to 145 degrees F for at least 15 seconds.

I looked up salmonella, and it does say 165 degrees F for chicken and other foods.

Confuzzling, eh? I'll have to start bringing my egg whites to a higher temperature then just to be sure.

Thanks!! I learn so much from this site!

Here's a blurb from the egg safety site:

What is an adequate temperature to cook an egg?
Egg white coagulates between 144 and 149°F, egg yolk coagulates between 149 and 158°F and whole eggs between 144 and 158°F. Plain whole eggs without added ingredients are pasteurized but not cooked by bringing them to 140°F and maintaining that temperature for 3 and 1/2 minutes. According to the FDA Food Code, eggs for immediate consumption can be cooked to 145°F for 15 seconds.

If the eggs are to be used in a recipe with other food items, dilute the eggs with with liquid or other ingredients, such as milk, or sugar (at least ¼ cup liquid or sugar per egg as in custard) and cook the egg mixture to 160°F, which will destroy harmful bacteria in a few seconds. Adequate cooking brings eggs and other foods to a temperature high enough to destroy bacteria that might be present.

HTH!
Melanie Mc.