I'm going to make a pastry cream for these cakes and they will be eaten by lots of people including my 1 year old.

I am a bit weary of using raw eggs, as I tend to steer clear of things with raw eggs in them.

What is the best way to wash and crack an egg without contaminating the insides?

Yeah, I'm odd...thanks though!

Pastry cream is prepared by cooking it though. Does that still scare you? It's well beyond the safety zone.

There's more concern in keeping it at room temp for hours than in the method of preparation. I don't think you should worry at all!

Thanks! I knew it had to be cooked but I just needed some reassurance!

If I'm ever really worried about raw eggs in a recipe, then I switch to using a pasteurized egg product like egg beaters.

wash the eggs?. but pastry is cooked so there aren't any raw eggs in it. its cooked until the eggs coagulate which is 85 to 90 so any bacteria is killed off.

Salmonella is in the egg, not on the shell-- so washing won't help.

But since pastry cream is cooked, no worries.