Cake Batter

Updated on May 15, 2012
S.R. asks from Azusa, CA
21 answers

I was baking with my kids for Mother's Day and I know we're not supposed to eat the cake batter nowadays because of raw eggs and salmonella concerns... but I can hardly stop myself from sneaking a taste, how am I supposed to stop my kids? I mean, that is just one of the joys of baking. I grew up licking the spoon when my mom baked.

Do you let your kids lick the beaters/lick the spoon/sneak a taste?

Do you know anyone, or even know anyone who knows anyone that actually got sick from tasting raw batter or dough?

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So What Happened?

Okay so I'm really glad I am not the only one! And that no one came on here to tell me I'm a terrible parent for doing that.

But I have to tell you guys my 2 y/o had diarhea aaaall day yesterday! And after reading Riley J's gross description of stage 1 salmonella (thanks for the visual BTW!) I am wondering if thats what it was (she also ate a bunch of sand at my moms house from the sandbox the same day...so who really knows)

I guess we're building up our 2 year old's tolerance... :( I agree that it is a small joy in life I'm not willing to give up.

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J.B.

answers from Boston on

I bake at least once a week and always taste the raw batter and let the kids lick the spoon. I don't know anyone who has gotten sick this way.

5 moms found this helpful

T.K.

answers from Dallas on

Life is full of risks, but we can't wrap them in bubble wrap. Licking the spoon is one of lifes little joys.

4 moms found this helpful

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T.W.

answers from Syracuse on

I always did this growing up with my mom and continue to do it with my kids. I honestly don't know of anyone who's ever gotten sick from it. I probably should stop. I'm terrible about eating raw chocolate chip cookie dough, it's just so darn good!

4 moms found this helpful
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K.F.

answers from New York on

I too am guilty of eating raw batter and cookie dough and teaching my children to do the same.

Is there a 12 step program for this too?

I'm going to make some cookies later and I will certainly eat the dough there is no stoping me.

4 moms found this helpful
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K.M.

answers from Washington DC on

No I don't know anyone who got sick from it. I read somewhere that sometimes when we have the runs it can be a mild case of Salmonella.

Yes, I've licked it. I try not to and yes my kids have as well, it just tastes so darn good! Never a lot though. We normally lick the spoons etc from the icing to satisfy the urge. Some batters taste good before you add the eggs so we taste then, but not all taste good then.

3 moms found this helpful

S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

pppfffftttttt.
i get fresh eggs and milk from local farmers. raw milk in my smoothies, often a raw egg too, and eggnog made from both at the holidays.
some risks are worth taking. what a fearful society we've become!
:) khairete
S.

2 moms found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Chicago on

I do it all the time, and I've never gotten sick from it. I heard once that it's not so much the raw egg but the shell that you have to worry about. If you're carefull not to let the outside of the shell touch the egg and the eggs are fresh then it's probably fine.

2 moms found this helpful

C.M.

answers from Washington DC on

of course we do! We even lick the bowl as well, lol! We have never gotten sick because of that. Although about a year ago, we found out my 7 year old is allergic to eggs, so she can't do it anymore. So, I just sneak it, lol!

2 moms found this helpful
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S.M.

answers from Dallas on

I eat it all the time and I have never gotten sick from it. It tastes too good to resist! I also don't know anyone who has ever gotten sick from it.

2 moms found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Chicago on

Cake batter, cookie batter, I lick the life out of my spoon..:))
Sure, wd let my child lick them off too. Never met with an infection, and heck, its way too much fun!

2 moms found this helpful
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A.G.

answers from Houston on

You all are so funny. lol Kimberly F - 12 step program! That is classic.

There have been many times I mix up a box just so I can eat the batter but never made the actual cake :)

2 moms found this helpful
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A.L.

answers from Austin on

The statistic is that one in about every 20,000 eggs is infected with salmonella. Or, the average American comes in contact with a salmonella infected egg about once every 42 years. (From pastrywiz.com, from a report from the USDA.)

Personally, those are odds I can deal with. I eat the cookie dough, the cake batter, etc, and I let my kids do it, too.

Although if you want to reduce your chances even more, I've also read that cage-free, non-organic eggs are the best bet. (Which happens to be what we buy, anyway, so I was pleased to hear that.) Cage-free, so the laying hens don't share space with infected hens, non-organic so the sick hens receive antibiotics, thus further decreasing the possibility of spread. And the most likely place to have salmonella spores is the shell (they CAN be infected inside, but it's less likely), so wash 'em before cracking.

Enjoy your cookie dough/cake batter/protein smoothie.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

I always lick the spoon and eat the raw batter/dough. It's probably my favorite part of baking. I don't know anyone who has ever gotten sick.

The one and only advantage of my son's egg allergy has been eating the batter without worrying! :D

1 mom found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Kansas City on

we lick the bowl, always have. We've never had a problem. hell, in high school we used to just buy cookie dough to eat raw.

1 mom found this helpful
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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

Sure. Me. Everytime I do it.

My body is pretty used to salmonella. Flourescent yellow foamy diahreah for 8-10 hours... Finis. Aka, mild cases.

Severe cases are dangerous, but I only ever get the weightless / these cookies don't actuall count special.

Now... I grew up where salmonella is almost unheard of (small farms direct to market), as opposed to here where giant warehouses mean a majority of eggs get contaminated to greater or lesser degree. So I may be more succeptible than most people who were exposed a lot as children and whose parents didn't know that yellow foam = salmonella infection stage 1.

The premade dough, or eggs in a carton have all been pasteurized, though. Those are safe as houses. Ditto eggs from a small local farm. It's the giant distrulibition warehouses that most infections come from.

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S.Z.

answers from Reno on

I am unable to imagine baking without licking the beaters! :) My kids are the same way. We've never gotten sick. I realize that there's a risk - I just feel that the risk is very small.

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A.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

My kids know that they aren't supposed to eat something with raw egg in it. So, when it's time to clean up the dough/batter is all mine. I figure it's my treat for getting stuck with the clean up job.

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L.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

No only do I lick the spoon, half the time I don't even make the cake - I just eat the batter! I love batter! I've never been sick from it. I let my son taste it but he's really not that into it so he doesn't see the joy in eating the batter. I also eat raw cookie dough and my mother and I both eat raw hamburger meat. I know there are are risks but we've never been sick! I hope you kids enjoyed!

K.M.

answers from Chicago on

MODERATION, that is all I am going to say.

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M.N.

answers from Los Angeles on

We've got to live a little! Let them lick the spoon. If you're really concerned about it used that carton egg product in your cake and there is not a health concern. I've always found cakes turn out the same.

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T.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

Chances are you WON'T get salmonella, because only a certain percentage of eggs have it. Yet, our food supply chain has changed so much for the worse in the past few decades, that foodborne illness is a real threat and not to be taken lightly, due to the conditions that the animals are kept in.
Salmonella is not something to mess around with. I had it BAD when I was 19, from eating undercooked chorizo and eggs from Rosa's in Hermosa Beach, and it left me with permanent gut problems, and I even ended up with appendicitis. I have never recovered fully. It really sucks.
I also have a friend from Torrance who had two children get salmonella from undercooked chicken and one was sick for two months, the other ended up with chronic regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and was bedridden for over a year.
Google CRPS / Joseph Martinez and you can read all about their story, it is very sobering. You would never ever want to see your child go thru something like that. I am not trying to scare you, this is a real life scenario that can happen from foodborne illness.
It is just not worth the risk, period.
If you absolutely have to lick the bowl/spoon, use pasteurized eggs, they do offer them now in some stores.

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