You buy a carton of eggs at the grocery store. If you just got ’em, that means they must be fresh, right?
Wrong.
While those eggs are still fine to eat, the freshest of fresh eggs, for us urban folk, generally come from farmer’s markets or produce exchanges. If you are fortunate enough to have access to fresh eggs, then your cakes and custards will be the fluffiest and most tender. Congratulations.
Here is a quick test to determine how fresh your eggs are, and it was taught to me by Miss Awesome (not her real name, but, surprisingly, pretty close).
Take your egg. Plop it in a bowl of water so it is completely submerged. If it sinks, it’s fresh. If it floats, it’s not.
The reasoning behind this is because egg shell is porous (which is why you shouldn’t put your eggs in the door of your refrigerator, as they’ll absorb all the smells of your fridge), and over time air leaks in through the shell. So you can tell that your egg has been around for a while if it floats, because it’s had time for the good stuff inside to shrink and for the shell to absorb air.
And now you know. Eggs. 
One of my favourite things about my CSA is that fresh eggs are one item I can choose to get. I’m currently in my Dry Spell – the CSA doesn’t start up again until early May – and I don’t know how I’m going to cope without a half-dozen eggs straight from the chicken whenever I want!
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I’m jealous!
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It’s one of the reasons I signed up! Fresh eggs are so much better…even though now, it’s hard to make pale baked goods sometimes. The yolks are too bright!
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