Egg wash & the baker’s shine

How to tell it is going right

• Applied thin and even over every surface that will show, with no bare patches and no ridges or brush lines standing in it.
• Nothing pooled: no wash run down into the seams, collected in the corners, or welded to the tray around the base.
• It has not glued shut what needs to move: layers, scores, and cut edges are still free to open in the heat.
• Baked, the finish is even and glossy across the whole piece and deep gold rather than patchy, with no darker bands where the wash sat heavy.
• The shine is on the outside only: nothing inside the piece tastes of egg.

Where it goes wrong The wash went on heavy and ran into the scores and down to the tray, so the piece baked sealed along its seams, browned unevenly, and carries dark rubbery ridges where the egg collected.